Partido de Fútbol

I attended the final soccer game of the season at Santiago Bernabéu, el estadio blanco, between Real Madrid and Majorca.

Real Madrid is one of a number of royally sponsored sports clubs dating from the reign of Alfonso XIII, one of the few essentially likable monarchs between Napoleon and our current Juan Carlos. At any rate, they have been the premier soccer team in Spain for about 80 years.

This year, Real lost out in the La Liga standings to Barcelona, who are having a historic year. Last weekend (May 23) Barcelona clinched first place with a Real Madrid loss.

The insignificane of the game did not stop 30,000 Madrillenos from turning out into a crisp Sunday evening to cheer on their team. Their were fanatics applenty: the Orgullo Vikings Club in the upper sections, and a miscellnious collection of hooligans behind the home goal. These guys were great: they had a cheer leader with a bull horn, various flags and banners, and lots of chants that ended with fascist salutes, or attacks against their neighbors. They turned out to be the best part of the evening.

So unfortunately, the home team did not give a damn yesterday in their match against the inferior squad from Majorca, who was playing for pride. Apparently pride beats disinterested skill, because Real Madrid went down 3-1 to the plucky islanders. The Majorca squad had an Guinean winger, Alhassane Keita, who could not have stood more than 5'6", but could run like the wind. He scored a fantastic third goal for his squad. Good for them, bad for Real Madrid, and my second all time European soccer experience.