This last Tuesday night (March 20) I had the unbelievable experience of going to see FC Barcelona play Granada. This city is absolutely crazy about their soccer team, and I knew as soon as I got here that going to a game would definitely be a priority for the semester. Seeing the game in person didn't let me down! My friends Mari, Melissa, Mike and I all bought tickets online last weekend and were excited about the game right up until the start. On the Monday before the game, my friend Brian Broccolo called me from Plaza Catalunya (the main plaza in Barcelona) telling me that he was here for the next couple of days and wanted to hang out. I couldn't believe that he was visiting and immediately met up with him and told him about my plans for the game. So it turned out that Brian, his roommates Mike and Austin and Austin's girlfriend all bought tickets as well and came to the game. The game time was set for 9pm on Tuesday so naturally we made plans to grab dinner and hang out at Ryan's Irish Pub to have some drinks before going over to the game. After waiting in a frustratingly long line at Bo de B for one of the best sandwiches in Barcelona, we all met up at the bar. My Fiji brother Edward Ruiz and his girlfriend Johanna met up with us there too. They were there for CC's Spring Break and I loved getting the chance to catch up with Edward and hear about the great things my Fiji chapter has been up to. So we all had some drinks at the pub and then took the metro over to the game.
After finding our tickets at will call we made our way up to our seats. And when I say up to our seats, I mean wayyyy up to our seats! We bought the cheapest available seats and were in the highest section, but that ended up being great because it offered the best views of the field and we could always see all of the players. We got to the game a little late and by the time we had arrived in about the 10th minute, Xavi (one of the players on Barcelona) had already scored a goal. We were a little bummed to have missed the first goal, but it didn't end up mattering because Messi (Barcelona's star player) scored another goal in the 17th minute.
After Messi scored that goal the whole stadium went crazy. The stadium wasn't packed because Granada is not a very good team and it was raining and kind of cold on the night of the game, but once Messi scored, the place sounded like it was full. The atmosphere at this game was unlike any US sporting game I had ever been to. Almost everyone was very quiet and paying extremely close attention to the game, until a goal was scored and then the whole stadium started yelling. This made it seem even louder after goals were scored.
There wasn't anymore scoring until after half time. Messi scored his second goal of the night in the 67th minute. We didn't realize it going into the game, but that goal tied Messi for the all time scoring record for a Barcelona player! The record had previously been held by Cesar Rodriguez in the 1950s. We thought seeing two Messi goals and him tying the record was enough, but then in the 86th minute he scored again for a hat trick and the new scoring record! The whole crowd began bowing to Messi and chanting his name while a congratulations went up on the score board. The celebration went on for a few minutes and then Barcelona went on to win the game 5-3. I couldn't believe we were lucky enough to see a Messi hat trick, Messi's record breaking goal and a Barcelona win on the same night! It was one of the best memories I'll have of this semester and I couldn't be happier that my friends and I went!
My mom, dad and Clara are on a flight headed here right now and I couldn't be more excited to see them tomorrow afternoon! We're headed up the Mediterranean coast to the Costa Brava near the Spanish/French border for the weekend. I'll be sure to put up another post and some pictures! Hasta luego!
Pictures (from top): Brian and I at Camp Nou; Mike, Melissa, Edward, Johanna and I at the pub; the view from our seats; another view from our seats; Mike, Melissa and I at the game; Congradulations Messi on 232nd career goal
To see more of my pictures click:
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http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151392578740481.821497.588220480&type=3&l=4150bcc3e0
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