Crayton’s co-worker Carlos is a huge Chivas fan, so on Sunday we trekked out to the Estadio Olímpico at UNAM to see Chivas play Pumas, one of their biggest rivals.
This was my second Mexican soccer game, and I gotta say, I’m becoming a fan. (As fan-ish as I can be. I tend to get very nervous during close games, and then my stomach starts flip-flopping, and then I can barely watch. So I try to stay low key about the whole thing.)
Compared to Estadio Azteca, Estadio Olímpico is on the small side, with two tiered sections of seats. But Pumas fans are notoriously rabid, and so it took us awhile to actually enter the stadium. First, an employee at our ticket gate shooed us away, saying that Chivas fans had to sit “in section 23.” When we walked to that section, we were told to go to another. At the third gate, the employee there told us we should go back to the first one we went to, where the girl had shooed us away.
We finally found seats — with the help of a high-up stadium employee with a walkie talkie — just after the game started. The seats were okay. They lay directly behind Pumas’ goal during the first quarter, meaning we didn’t have an aerial view of the field. But we were immersed in red-and-white, which was fun.
The guy behind me kept whining, “No maaa-mes!” whenever Pumas approached the Chivas goal. And there were several shouts of, “Dale Chicharo!”, urging on Chivas player Javier Hernandez.
My favorite part was the trash-talking. Pumas fans would launch into their traditional “Goya” cheer, which goes like this:
Gooooya!
Gooooya!
Ca-choo Ca-choo RAH-RAH
Ca-choo Ca-choo RAH RAH
Goooya!
Chivas fans would basically pee on it, singing it back and then tacking on a “Chíngala tu madre!” on the end. You can listen to an audio link of the original Goya cheer here.
A few more pictures from the game:
Starting to realize riot police on horseback are a typical sight for a Mexican soccer game
A sign tacked on the stadium gate, basically meaning: 'Don't worry Pumas, we won't turn our backs on you.' The Pumas haven't been doing too well this year.
A sea of red-and-white Chivas fans...
...compared to even more Pumas fans, probably all dying to toss cupfuls of beer on our heads.
Beer sales stop just after halftime, as written on the very helpful jumbo-tron.
This Chivas fan led the trash-talking Goya cheer.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLL! (Chivas ties the score, 1-1.)
After the game we went to El Charco de Las Ranas for tacos. Of course, afterward I also had to try a gaznate from the vendor out front. It’s a typical Mexican street-food dessert, comprising a tube of fried dough filled with a creamy meringue mixture. Been eyeing them for weeks, wondering how they were… but I didn’t like it. Too sweet and heavy. Oh well.
A close-up of the juicy tacos al pastor at El Charco de Las Ranas
The gaznate, which despite its good looks, I won't be trying again.
