US vs ES

We went to the United States/El Salvador national soccer match. Chaos ensued.

First, we met the US team! Coincidently, we were staying at the same hotel. And of course I use the term “met” very loosely considering mostly all we did was ride the elevator up and down trying to catch a ride with players. But it worked and we did have some quick conversations with some of the players. Mostly they were harassing me about the El Salvador jersey I was wearing. But still. But our biggest moment of the night was seeing Landon Donovan walk through the lobby (didn’t mean anything to me, but my friend Meghan called all of her soccer-crazy brothers in the States when she saw him).

In an effort to blend and to avoid inciting a riot, we all came to the stadium decked out in blue for El Salvador. Regardless, we were welcomed into the stadium to a roar of shouting and a cameo on the big screen. Our tickets were in the section of the stadium that goes by charming nickname of “Vietnam.” Apparently the signature move of this particular section is to celebrate goals by throwing cups of beer in the air. And when your cup is empty, if you feel so inclined, you may pee into your cup and throw that in the air. Lovely.

However, despite the pee in my hair and constant heckling, the Salvadoran fans loved us and were buying us beer and gifting us random paraphernalia (I got an ES tshirt and a ridiculous blue wig). The game was almost literally a riot and I can’t wait for another!!!