Immediately after our game on Friday, we jumped on the bus and headed across town to watch a game in the Primera Division...San Lorenzo vs. Arsenal. After our disappointment at not being able to see the San Lorenzo vs. Velez Sarsfield game on the previous weekend (and having to hear about the tragedy of a Velez fan being shot a few miles away on the way to the game), we were excited to see some top soccer.
On our way to the game, there was some nasty weather coming in...VERY dark clouds. We stopped the bus about half way and let the Rodericks out to take baby Rachel back to the hotel...and many of the players "chickened out" and jumped off the bus...the few die-hards headed to the Arsenal stadium as the rain started thumping down. We arrived and were escorted into a room to await the end of the reserve game and stay dry! Right before the first teams headed out, it stopped raining...Yes!
The game provided some interesting stories. Argentina has 20 teams in its Primera Division. There are two seasons ("Torneos") each year where each team plays each other once...an apetura ("opening"), which ended in December with an incredible Cinderella story as Lanus won the championship. And now we're in the 7th fecha (date) of the clausura ("closing") season. Arsenal is in 11th place and San Lorenzo is in 13th...but it is early and there is a lot of soccer yet to be played.
Last year, Arsenal won the Copa Sudamericana, which is like the UEFA Cup in Europe...not quite the Champions League...but for the next group of teams in each country. It was a great victory for this small club. Arsenal's coach Alfaro was the San Lorenzo coach a couple of years ago and got fired after some poor performances.
Well, as the game started the visiting sections of the stands were filled with San Lorenzo fans...and like the week before, they were singing in full force. And the home sections were empty as the local fans had gone home when the rains hit (many would come back as the game wore on). Here is a video of the fans getting ready for kickoff as we remind ourselves that we are now rooting for Arsenal as we are sitting in their section:
The game was exciting. It was hotly contested. The rains hit at halftime and things got wet during the second period. Alyssa Toomey always one to keep things interesting, kept us entertained at half-time by trying to catch rain drops! We have exclusive footage here at the blog...Check it out!
The game was on TV and we were pleasantly surprised to hear that we were shown several times during the game. We were also welcomed officially by the club at the half...Watch and listed to the announcer welcome us...a very nice gesture by our hosts....
sluglute
San Lorenzo won at the very end on a goal from a free kick that was whipped in from the wing and, after a scramble, tapped in the net. It was a great night of soccer. We ended by singing the San Lorenzo songs on the bus back to the hotel as the women's coaches from San Lo rode with us and taught us the words!
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