Sunday, October 18, 2009

Showdown in Montevideo

Young Uruguayans Playing Soccer in Ciudad Vieja of Montevideo, Uruguay
Sundays are for hitting the ball with your buddies -- not just in Argentina but also in Uruguay. Last Wednesday, however, soccer attracted an even greater attention in both countries as it came to a crucial battle between their national teams: La Celeste (Uruguay) vs. La Albiceleste (Argentina). As you may be aware, it's Fifa World Cup qualifying at the moment. Soccer fans in Montevideo's Estadio Centenario got to see an exciting and nail biting match virtually until the last minute. When in the 84th minute Mario Bolatti scored the 0-1 to punch Argentina's ticket for South Africa in 2010, national team coach Diego Maradona was bubbling over with joy. What a relief! The battle was rather a bogey match for Argentina because they had last won 1975 in this stadium. Uruguay now has to go into the playoffs against Costa Rica on November, 14 and 18.

9 comments:

Lowell said...

Congratulations are in order. Sounds like an exciting game. But where are all the people?

B SQUARED said...

I agree with Jacob. Not too many spectators.

AB said...

And the amazing Maradona soap opera continues! It would have been a crime if Messi were not going to South Africa.

Julie said...

This is the sort of game that I like to see: a local game with buddies and dirt underfoot and no spectators screaming for blood!

I am not a sporty person. Can you tell?

RogerB said...

I was a soccer coach for several seasons and I love the game. Unfortunately, parents and greedy soccer organizations have overtaken the sport here in the US and it is one of the most selfish and political team sports being played. The funny thing is that most of the kids playing in your photo could outplay our "star" kids whose parents pay $10,000+ per year for them to play on an elite team. Sad and funny at the same time.

R.Ferrari said...

Parabens Argentina por la clasificación. Viva el fútbol. ¡Viva la amistad entre los pueblos.

EG CameraGirl said...

Congratulations!

Soccer is becoming more and more popular in Canada. Soccer and hockey are the tm sports kids want to play.

Andreea said...

It made the sport news in Romania that Argentina qualified for the World Cup. Since Romania didn't qualify maybe I'll root for Argentina :)

peenkfrik said...

For some reason, football is not a very common sport in my country and I never got the chance to play it.