Last night, Spain won the Eurocup for the first time in 44 long years, defeating Germany 1-0. After the close victory, the streets of Spain were filled with hundreds of thousands of celebratory fans, many of whom bathed in Spanish fountains, which is customary. According to El Pais, 65,000 people headed to the Plaza de Colón in Madrid, to watch the game on big screens and later celebrate the win. Presumably, among the hoards of natives were a variety of study-abroad students celebrating the prestigious title with their new Spanish friends and family.
Sports are the true passion, heart and soul of a country. Specifically speaking, soccer is the world’s sport, and if you can learn to love it as so many millions of people do, you will always have some to talk with, debate with, or run the streets of Spain celebrating with. Personally speaking, before leaving for Spain I hated soccer and even now, still am not a huge fan of it. However, I do admit I felt proud and excited watching “my” country take the trophy home.
Soccer is the true international language. If you can argue why Iker Casillas is the world’s best goalie or why Liverpool doesn’t have a shot against Chelsea this year or can even gush that Cristiano Ronaldo is “sooooooo hot,” you will easily converse with any bus driver, bartender, professor, or whoever. In Costa Rica, the bars fill the watch Saprissa, the country’s best team. Upon first arriving to Costa Rica I was worried that my family was screaming and fighting all the time but then soon realized they were arguing about fútbol. These debates later became largely entertaining for me. Soccer is so important that I have even had classes cancelled because they were playing some important match. If you are like me or the majority of Americans, it is true you may not really care at all about soccer, but it is certainly fun to have something to root for and something to celebrate.
No matter how hard I work, I will probably never understand soccer or why it is so popular. It will never run through my blood like it seems to do for so many aficionados. However, when Spain wins the title and I am in a bar celebrating, high-fiving, and hugging complete strangers, the love of the game starts to make a little more sense.
Check out this video of La Plaza de Colón shortly after victory.
For more info: Check out pictures and coverage of the victory at http://www.elpais.com/fotogaleria/llegada/ campeones/5608-1/elpgal/
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Spain wins Eurocup 2008
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