Miguel and I made an early start, putting together hand-waver flags to give away.
After breakfast we headed out into the streets and gave them to locals who were quite keen to approach us anyway for selfies. Honestly the people of Guadalajara have come across as very excited to be ‘on the map’ and have welcomed us in every way possible.
Diego and Miguel soon got roped into a pop-up football game in front of the cathedral where a Colombian selection took on a Mexican one. Uhh, it seemed to end in a draw and someone won on penalties, but there was sweat and hugs all round.
Given the ‘traffic situation’ as our guide put it we assembled at our departure point a good five hours before kick-off.
A few Congolese were at the same hotel and we were all happy to get in the mood together while we waited for the bus to arrive.
The bus trip only took 40 minutes or so but as we arrived the problem was fairly obvious. Next to no space had been allocated for drop-offs, either by bus or by car whether private, rental or taxi. Impromptu drop-offs caused chaos and the whistle-blowing traffic stewards fought a losing battle against people who (rightly) were just looking for a place to drop their passengers.
Unlike Monterrey there was no pre-game area outside the stadium bounds, at least not really. We did hang around long enough to meet other Colombians and also made a new friend.
Colombiaaaaa!
A rubbish truck arrived to empty the bins which were close to overflowing with bottle, cans and other rubbish. They were sorting it and bagging it before lobbing the big black bin bags into the back of their truck. As a rain shower passed over, they happily started selling their bin bags to spectators in the entry queue to use as makeshift rain ponchos. Donald Trump will happy to know that capitalism is alive and well in Mexico!
Mexican rubbish collector wearing wrestling mask selling garbage bags to Colombian spectators for use as rain ponchos. Yes.
The FIFA event staff seem to be divided into those who actually have things to do and quite a few who don’t. Their remit as far as I can make out is just to be a friendly presence and perhaps answer questions…roving ambassadors just ambassading. As she’s already wearing a Colombian sombrero she’s obviously already been working the entry line for a while.
Fraternising with the event staff.
Some of the event staff were ready to provide assistance to anyone who could not make the long walk to the stadium, a slightly-arduous kilometer across bridges, down staircases and across the outer reaches of the stadium complex. There appeared to be only one main access route so…you try putting 50 thousand people along a path only four metres wide and see how it goes. We shuffled along in the yellow tide, until occasionally there was a little more room…to dance, what else?!
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust … if the giant sombrero don’t get ya, the toro must!
Much to our delight the stadium was flooded in Colombian yellow, probably reflecting the relative prosperity and proximity of Colombia as compared to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Colombia had the best part of a tight-game and eventually triumphed 1-0 which guarantees the The Coffeemen (Los Cafeteros, yes that actually is the team nickname) will progress to the next round. Highlights here.
One of the fun things in the stadium atmosphere is the ‘light show’ they do with the stadium lights during one of the breaks. Yes, I am easily amused.
Exiting the stadium was slow and wearying, and at our pre-determined meeting point the bus unable to enter the service lane. In the end the driver parked in one of the traffic lanes for a few minutes while we sprinted over and then climbed on. I’m loving Guadalajara in many ways but the transport arrangements for this match were frankly a shambles.
In the day’s other games Portugal finally got going with a 5-0 win over Uzbekistan, highlights here. That’s it for the Uzbeks while Colombia and Portugal face off in the last group game to determine who wins the group (and possibly gets an easier draw in the next round). Congo will need a win against Uzbekistan to make the round of 32.
England and Ghana played a 0-0 draw (highlights here) while Panama fell 1-0 to Croatia (highlights here). England and Ghana look likely to advance while Croatia probably need a draw in their last group match against Ghana; Panama need a win and a miracle.
There are six Thursday games in the Americas, partly an artefact of the tournament rule that final group games should be played simultaneously. Because television coverage wants at least three game windows, well it’s three times two and voila, six matches.
Bosnia-Herzegovina v Qatar and Switzerland v Canada will see Group B finalised.
Morocco v Haiti and Scotland v Brazil will complete Group C.
South Africa v Korea and Czechia v Mexico rounds out Group A
Enjoy the football and have fun!
Alan Whykes is a Tasmania-based writer and an ex- too many things to list.
This blog is the start of a new section called Tas At Large which showcases stories of Tasmanian diaspora let loose upon the world.
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