Football VS Futbol

Each person that I’ve skyped or emailed with has asked me the same question: what’s the best thing you’ve done so far in Spain? Answer. Daily double!

This past weekend our great little group from TCU got to experience something extraordinary. We scored tickets to the Sevilla vs Betis futbol match! On Thursday afternoon, we made the 80-minute walk to the Betis Stadium to wait in line with the locals for tickets. We waited for the gates to open & grabbed some pretty cheap tickets, or “entradas.” We were very pleasantly surprised that we got 11 seats together because this game was sure to be packed!

The rivalry between Sevilla & Betis is to say the least, intense. It’s difficult to explain. Both teams are from the city of Sevilla, so bragging rights are on the line. Betis boasts green and represents the poor country folk, or people from “el campo” & the Sevilla fans bleed red and typically represent the wealthier citizens of Sevilla. The teams don’t play each other every season because of division classifications, but when the stars align, oh man, it’s ON!

My roommate Claire and I decided to root for Betis because our señor, Miguel, is from Betis! Plus, it’s the “people’s team.” Power to the people. Miguel did warn us, however, that we shouldn’t wear too much green to the stadium because fans tend to get violent. Um, violent?

We took a taxi to the stadium, got there pretty early, and grabbed our seats. Hello, nosebleeds! The stadium started to fill up with green shirts & scarves once the starting time of 10 o’clock approached. It got to be about a quarter ‘til and we all realized that there was not a single Sevilla fan to be seen in the stadium. What? Also, we realized that the section where we were sitting was practically empty, but the rest of the stadium was full. Then we saw that our section was the only one partitioned off with bullet-proof glass. Uh... oh...

Notice the dispersion of fans...

Betis fans started to run up to the top row where we were sitting & looking over the edge of the stadium. I went to check out what they were looking at & then my jaw dropped. The Spanish SWAT team was escorting hundreds of rowdy, loud, proud Sevilla fans down the street. It looked like instead of parting the Red Sea, Moses just decided it would be easier to send it raging down the streets of Sevilla. At that instant we realized that all of those angry fans were going to be sitting in our section. Aw hail.

We ran down the stairs and the sweet SWAT teamers (never thought I’d say that) let us foreigners escape the danger zone and sit with other Betis fans. Once the Sevilla crowd started filling up their partitioned-off section, the stadium was a rage with middle fingers, cuss words, and derogatory sexual gestures aimed at their section. So many new things I got to learn! The sheer hate that Sevilla and Betis fanatics have for each other could be heard, seen, felt, tasted and even smelled. It was completely hilarious! Slightly frightening, but mainly hilarious.

Well, the game started and toilet paper started to fly. Hundreds of fans threw toilet paper and red streamers from the stands like they were TPing the stadium – it actually was slightly beautiful. Ironically enough, there was no toilet paper in the bathrooms. Rough. There were huge, intricate, offensive signs too! I’m telling you – the spirit in that place was crazy-go-nuts.

The actual game was a doozy! So fun to watch. Betis scored first, then Sevilla. With the score at 1-1, the tension in the stadium was palpable. My favorite part about the game was hearing/learning the cheers and chants from each team. I learned so many new offensive words! About halfway through the game we realized that 2 of our friends hadn’t made it over to the Betis section, and were trapped among the raging Sevilla section. Whoops! Another great part of the game was watching the SWAT team interfere when fans got too riled up on opposite sides of the glass. Classic.

Typical friendly neighborhood SWAT team

The game ended in a tie: 1-1. Betis clearly played better, but just couldn’t get that ball in the goal. The Betis fans left first, then the Sevilla fans were released about 45 minutes later so there wouldn’t be any intermingling or murdering. Good idea. All in all, the game was such a fun cultural experience! I’m really glad that the timing worked out for us to see the biggest, most passionate game of the season in Sevilla.

Me and my sweet friend Veronica!

Well, we’ve recovered from the aftershock of the big game and now classes start today. That means that the honeymoon period of studying abroad is coming to a close. Here’s to a great semester on the campus of Universidad Pablo de Olavide!