FI FA FO FUN

Cute and I have made every effort to become international soccer, aka football, fans in Kansas City.  Although we lack the accents, the clothes, the fervent enthusiasm, (and the money), we have valiantly attended one fan rally, the Fan Fest and finally, this weekend, a real game between Ecuador and Curaçao (formerly known to me as only a tasty liqueur, sometimes blue).  I’m sure you haven’t been able to miss the hype and you may be tired of it all already (there’s still almost a month to go) but I have to say for us, it’s been a kick. 

A group rally on the Plaza was our first experience.  Much singing, many many signs, people in appropriate team sports gear were gathered at the Mill Creek Park. Flags are popular everywhere, most worn Superman style. Very cheerful, very friendly and aimless exuberance abounded.

Our second, the Fan Fest, was reminiscent of the NFL Draft Day action at Liberty Memorial but ten times the food stalls, the giant TVs, the bathrooms, the picnic tables, the drink purveyors and the people.  Since FIFA controls EVERYTHING, prices WERE pretty astounding (ditto for the stadium game but we’re more used to those there).  We noted that while you had to get in line for a $16 hot dog or $24 burnt ends, you were able to easily procure liquid refreshment, a result we thought of $19.00 for an American non-special beer and $7.00 cokes (plus taxes).

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/bff7d0_65baf06445284b7d88195ab015ff80bb/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

We're in before the rush!

The third was the game itself.  Cute bought bus tickets from Union Station to the stadium but then FIFA added the Plaza as a pickup point.  Couldn’t  get a refund or exchange.  Bought another bus ticket. Turned out, nobody looked at those tickets anyway. Getting on the bus was a long maze of switchbacks (think magnified passport lines with rows of metal fence sections) which were pretty unnecessary and pretty annoying.  Between that ¼ mile and the additional similar experience getting into the stadium, we got our steps in – some 15,000 all told that day.  I felt so healthy!

As I watched my first live game ever, and probably last, I formed several opinions that I’m sure you’ve been dying to know. Please do keep in mind my basic ignorance of the game.

1. Soccer is much faster and more interesting than you might think. It is 90 minutes of continuous action… the estimate is that each player runs about 9 miles in that hour and a half. However the goalie has about 50 to 80 minutes of relatively calm inaction each game, though he clearly must be paying attention, and then sheer terror for seconds.  Compare that with football’s actual 11 minutes of action.

2. Soccer is much more violent and aggressive than I ever thought. The players are constantly entangled, their feet are flayling in all different directions, and they seem to be wrapped around each other far more often than one might think vital for a kicking game.

3. Soccer players are really good actors. They fall to the ground often as the result of someone apparently violently tripping them or pushing them or body slamming them.  On the turf, they proceed to roll, scream, groan, clutch their body parts and do everything but cry for mama. Then they usually shrug, get up and start running again. Figuring out what constitutes a foul deserving of a red or yellow penalty card is certainly a skill which I did not possess even after an entire game.

4. Soccer fans reminded me of very enthusiastic and vocal Chiefs’ fans, so you get an idea of what the entire stadium is filled with. They also sing together, even though I couldn’t tell why they chose to sing when they did, but it was always very loud.  They even did the wave starting at one side of the stadium and going all the way to the other. Impressive.

5. If you based your analysis on tee-shirt backs, Messi is even more popular than Mahomes.

6.  The fact that a final score is 0-0 or 1–0 is not at all indicative of the action or excitement that takes place to get to that score. That was a big surprise.

My conclusion: If you get a chance, even for just a watch party, you should go. It's people watching on steroids, plus it’s probably not gonna happen again in KC.

And if someone would give me a ticket, I’d happily go to a game again. Afterall, I've (reluctantly) bought a clear plastic purse.