La Marea Roja...

So I just got back from Panama on Monday night. It was a quick 6 day trip. I needed to renew my passport, and it takes 2 hours down there vs. possibly 2 months from here. I also hadn't been there in over a year so and it was good for me to go down there and see my mom and the rest of my family.

As it so happens though, my timing was great. I was there during the semi-finals and finals of the Gold Cup 2005. What am I talking about? It's a soccer tournament ran by the CONCACAF which is the confederation of FIFA that governs soccer in North and Latin America and the Caribean. It's kind of the equivalent of the Euro cup. The powerhouses in that region are mainly the US and Mexico. Panama is way down there. But they did well in pool play, came in second, and then beat South Africa (an invited out of region team) in the quarters in penalties to make it to the semis.

Now, to say that this was/is a big deal, is an understatement. I don't know how I can convey what it was like. Panama had never been this far in any international soccer comeptition. This was big time. "La Marea Roja" (the red tide) is the name given to our fans. That's cuz our team colors are red and white, and the fans always wear red. In the semis we were playing Colombia. Colombia is a big time team, they've made several World Cup appearances. We'd already beaten them once in the tournament, and beating them again would be a big upset. I'm pretty sure that at least half of the country if not more watched that game. I'm not joking. We scored early in the first half, then scored again. Colombia then scored to make it 2-1. It was nerve wracking to watch. I thought they would tie for sure, but we scored again to make it 3-1. They then scored, but the final was 3-2 and we won. People were out in the streets celebrating, waving their flags, sporting their red jerseys and partying in the streets. This was the biggest accomplishment in soccer for us ever. Everybody was ecstatic. Next up, the USA in the finals on Sunday. No one thought we could win. Just getting there was amazing, but what if, what if...

On Sunday, it was double the intensity as the semis. I think the whole country stopped to watch that game. I watched at at my uncle's restaurant, El Piloto, that he opened especially for the occasion (usually they close on Sundays). Check out the scene...

I don't mean that all the sports fans were out cheering, I'm talking everybody. People that probably don't even like soccer all that much. Here's my uncle behind the bar:

Before the game and durin halftime and any other breaks the place was bumpin to reggaeton songs all specially written to support the team. Popular songs modified with lyrics to cheer.

I was afraid we'd get killed. I watched the USA-Panama game they played in RFK about 6 months ago and we lost 5-0. It would have been horrible for that to happen with the whole country cheering. But that didn't happen. They played great. The #6 team in the world vs the #83 team. We had as many if not more chances then they did. We had one goal that was taken away by a really close offside call, one shot hit the crossbar, and plenty more chances. The US also had a bunch of their own. The US controlled the ball more, and we got lots of chances on fast breaks, but at the end of regular time it was 0-0 and no one could say we were outmatched. OT proved to be more of the same, both sides getting good chances. Panama tiring and the US appeared fresher, but still no goals and a 0-0 score. So it's off to penalties. 2 great goalies (our goalie, Penedo, was one of the huge surprises of the tourney). Up first was Tejada, our best forward. And the US goalie stopped it. That was the beginning of the end. Our goalie stopped one, but another one of our forwards hit the crossbar and missed. We ended up losing in PKs.

My little cousin Diego was devastaded. He was in the corner of the restaurant, head down, wrapped in his Panama flag. When I left about 20 mins after the end of the game, he was in the same position. Nothing was gonna cheer him up. But he's too young to realize what a great performance it was. He was the exception, not the rule. To the rest of the country, it was time to celebrate. Again, it's hard to describe. The game started at 2, prolly finished before 5 or so. Afterwards I went to my grandfather's house to hang out with them for a bit on my last night. When we headed back to my mom's place around 8:30, it took us half an hour to cross Calle 50 because the people were out in mass, celebrating, partying, drinking. That road was closed at some intersections, and at other it was bumper to bumper with cars, most sporting flags and drunk Panamanians.

Monday night, the team flew home to a huge celebration.

http://www.prensa.com/hoy/deportes/289946.html

Over 20000 people went to the stadium to welcome them back, and I'm sure the partying just continued. Just imagine if we had won!!! No doubt, Monday would have been declared a national holiday! No joke. On my way to the airport in the morning, people on the radio kept on calling and commenting on how proud/happy they were.

The funny thing is that in the US, that soccer game was probably the smallest blip in the sports fan's radar. Somewhere below Sunday's baseball game, and NFL pre-season talk shows. Few people if any knew about it, let alone watched it.

Just goes to show how different life is around the world.

Anyways, it was a good time for me to be home :)

Ahora, vamos pa el Mundial chicos. Hay que califcarse! Come decian la gente en la radio: "Te imaginas si llegamos al Mundial? Te imaginas si ganamos un partido? Chucha, si metemos un gol? La dementia brother (pronounced brada) la dementia!!!"