April 22,2012 Last night my cousin Claudia called and wanted to know if I wanted to go watch her son Alfredo (my younger cousin) play soccer. He really wanted me to go watch him :-) At first we didn't think it was going to work out because later that day I was suppose to be going to the soccer stadium for the Catanzaro game, but after my mom being on two different phones with two different cousins we managed to make it work. Where we normally have a football field in the center of the track they have a soccer field. It felt like an actual stadium though having to walk up these giant cement steps to sit and watch the game.Toward the end of the game Alfredo was able to score a goal off of a corner kick, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to get them the win. They ended up losing 3-2. This is there last game that they will be playing here in Catanzaro, but they do have another game in Sicily...I would really like to go see that one, but I am not sure when or how much it will cost to go watch. I would love to go to Sicily and have another place I have visited in Italy added to my list. I will have to talk to his dad and see if we can go because all of the players are going by bus then fairy, and none of the parents are allowed to go with the players. Hopefully we will be going though!
After my cousins soccer game Alfredo, his dad, and I went to the soccer stadium and met up with my other cousins. It was my moms city Catanzaro vs. the city where my cousin lives La Mezia. If you think Raider games are bad they are nothing compared to an Italian soccer game. This was even crazier!
At the stadium they have something similar to the Black Hole at the Raiders game called La Curva because it is also at the end of the field. This game was in a larger stadium. There were flags yellow and red everywhere (the colors of Catanzaro) in La Curva. Everyone in there was chanting songs cheering on our team. I was asking my cousin why there were firemen on the soccer field and they said it was for the fires. I was thinking what the heck catches on fire at a soccer game??? Let me tell you!!! Its because these crazier than Raider fans throw down smoke bombs and what I call pipe bombs (because that is exactly what they sound like) on the asphalt down below. They hold the firework in their had and once the fuse it almost completely lit they throw the bomb down. Talk about almost having a heart attack this being my first Italian soccer game and not expecting that at all. I thought a war was about ready to break out.
The Italians definitely play a dirty soccer game. My mom's city didn't play that bad today and actually played a clean game. However, La Mezia is a different story. In America when we play soccer players will fall down and pretend to be hurt so that the referee will blow the whistle. Once the whistle blows they are miraculously healed. Well here in Italy this player #3 from La Mezia fell down and pretended to be hurt. Once the whistle blew he continued to lay on the ground. They called out the medics and brought out the stretcher. After the medics carried him to the sidelines he jumped off the stretcher and ran back out to his position on the field!!! Who does that??? I came to watch a soccer game not a little boy cry wolf! I couldn't even believe that they didn't give him a yellow card or a red card for that kind of behavior.
In total we scored 3 goals, but 2 were taken away for dumb reason. I still don't know why. Everyone in the stadium was yelling VENDUTI! ( meaning the other team paid the ref) when the second one was taken away. Finally after the third goal was scored the striker took off his shirt, threw it on the ground, and ran around celebrating, but because of this behavior he ended up with a yellow card. Luckily for us the third goal was good. Catanzaro won 1-0. After the final whistle blew the guys from the soccer team ran into La Curva and took off their short and threw them into the stands leaving them only in their speedos.
During half time we went to use the restroom. If my bladder wasn't hurting so bad I would have passed and waited after what I saw, but we still had an hour left to go in the game. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I will let you see for your self. I can't seem to find one word for this picture because I am speechless! There is another game here on Wednesday that I want to go see, but I will definitely be prepared and know what to expect now...bombs, bathrooms, and all!!!
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