Ours was a fairly calm busride, compared to those we saw as we leap-frogged our way along the highway towards the city. The Chilenos in the back cracked open their beers, lit up their cigarettes in blatant denial of the signs (which are obligotory in all buses) that prohibit smoking in public transit, and periodically broke out in chants and songs. When we passed other buses, we would scream out the window, VIVA CHILE, and the other bus would reciprocate, its red-clad passengers waving their flags and banners out the window over the tops of other cars sharing the highway. As we neard the stadium the fans began jumping, shaking the bus, hitting the cealing in rhythm, and we joined in, being swept up in the frenzy that only built as we made our way into the stadium.
I have never been so happy to be part of a sea of red, white, and blue (the colors of Chile's flag). The 70,000-some fans filled the stadium with an intoxicating sense of pride and celebration. Looking around the stands, I spotted the fenced-off area, protected by Carabineros in full riot-gear, that housed the 46 Bolivian fans that had ventured onto enemy turf in valiant support of their team. And to hear the chants that the stadium sang, the Bolivians were very brave indeed. Some of the songs were purely mean, singing:
Ola, ola ola
Él que no salta no tiene mar (He who doesn't jump doesn't have the sea)
Chile beat Bolivia in the War of the Pacific, claiming the top bit of the country for itself and thus not allowing Bolivia to have any marine access. How brutal! Imagine the U.S. playing Mexico and yelling "Hey, hey, hey...we got the Alamo, suckers!"
The game was fantastic, with us beating Bolivia 4-0, and the last 3 goals scored in the final 20 minutes or so. And the celebratory screaming, chanting, jumping, flare-lighting, singing, flag-waving, friend-hugging, stadium-shaking uproar that overtook the stands when we scored was nothing short of what I'd hoped for. On the bus ride back 3/4 of the bus passed out from exhaustion and the last quarter sat in the back smoking, drinking, and celebrating. The bus even made a stop specifically for a Botilleria (liquor store) run. Have I mentioned that Chileans are known for their drinking? At 2 am back in Viña, there were still crowds outside of every bar waiting to get in and celebrate. I now wish, more than ever, that we Estadounidenses were as into futbol as the rest of the world.