The Samba down La Rambla
Greetings from the home of the European Champions!
What a game and what a night! With a dramatic come-from-behind victory, FC Barcelona sent this city into a frenzy last night. I have never seen such widespread celebrating in my entire life. Everyone on every street was dancing and singing.
Kate and I watched the game at one of our favorite pubs here in Barrio Gothico, amid throngs of singing and chanting FCB fans. There were some amazingly tense moments in the second half of the game as the faithful were starting to consider the possibility of FCB falling to a 10-man Arsenal squad, but when Eto'o finally broke through with the opening goal, relief settled in. Then when Belletti netted the winner four minutes later, Barcelona erupted into sheer pandemonium.
A few of my takes on the action on the field and some of the referee's dubious calls...
1. Every referee blows calls, you only hope those blown calls don't have an impact on the result of the game. The Norwegian man in the middle last night wasn't that lucky. All his mistakes seem to big huge ones. That being said, I found it very disappointing to see the likes of Thierry Henry taking shots at the referee and saying he cost them the game.
2. To Arsenal fans lamenting Eto'o goal because he appeared to be just a wee bit offside, I urge you to consider the goal the referee took away from FCB with his quick whistle on Jens Lehmann's red-card foul. Everyone watching the game knew he should have let play continue and allowed the goal. The referee himself even came out after the game and told the newspapers he blew the call.
3. On top of that, take a close look at the "foul" that led to Sol Campbell's fabulous goal for Arsenal. What a fantastic dive by Eboue.
4. Thierry Henry cried after the game over little fouls that weren't being called. Anyone else find it quite ironic that an English Premier League team would be the ones whining about the rough play of a Spanish La Liga team?
5. Henry's yellow card was an atrocious call by the referee.
6. Frank Rijkaard's substitutions sure make him look a genius. Henrik Larsson steps on the pitch, and in his farewell performance for FCB, sets up BOTH goals. Meanwhile, inserting Juliano Belletti into the game allowed the Brazilian to score the game-winner.
Despite all the action on the field, my greatest memories of the night come from the celebrating here in Barcelona after the game. La Rambla was literally slammed with wall-to-wall people. We couldn't even make our way from our apartment to Plaza Catalunya. Those of you who have visited us know that means we are talking about a serious amounts of humanity. However, the enormous crowd ended up being a stroke of good luck for us.
Determined to make it to Plaza Catalunya, Kate and I cut through the tiny twisting streets of our neighborhood in Barrio Gothico. Halfway to Plaza Catalunya, we encountered a drum corp consisting of nothing but local boys, not a one of them older than probably 15. These kids were busting out an awesome samba beat and just walking through the Barrio on their way to La Rambla. Aside from the eight or so drummers, the only people really walking with them at this point were their parents and few revelers who had taken to dancing along right in front or behind the drum procession.
It was such a cool scene that it was a no-brainer for Kate and I to scrap our Plaza Catalunya objective and turn around to join the samba brigade. It didn't take long for just about everyone the brigade passed to turn around and join the fun. As we neared La Rambla, even the revelers on that crazy boulevard shifted their attention to us.
When we reached La Rambla, the kids turned the brigade left and we spent the next hour entranced in a magical samba down the boulevard toward the Christopher Columbus statue near the harbor. Our group, which once numbered just a dozen or so, swelled to hundreds, maybe even a thousand as the masses parted so we could pass through. As colorful flares lit up the sky, casting misty red shadows on all the buildings along La Rambla, people came out on their balconies to bask in the glow of an FCB championship and soak in the music from our little drummer boys.
This season has left me with too many incredible memories about FCB to count. But the Samba down La Rambla is right up there near the top of the list.
Now that FCB's season has come to a close, Kate and I are convinced being here during this season is one of the more charmed strokes of good fortune we've experienced. Starting with the free tickets to the Chelsea game and ending with the Samba down La Rambla, we couldn't have asked for a more miraculous time than our FC Barcelona McVenture.
What a game and what a night! With a dramatic come-from-behind victory, FC Barcelona sent this city into a frenzy last night. I have never seen such widespread celebrating in my entire life. Everyone on every street was dancing and singing.
Kate and I watched the game at one of our favorite pubs here in Barrio Gothico, amid throngs of singing and chanting FCB fans. There were some amazingly tense moments in the second half of the game as the faithful were starting to consider the possibility of FCB falling to a 10-man Arsenal squad, but when Eto'o finally broke through with the opening goal, relief settled in. Then when Belletti netted the winner four minutes later, Barcelona erupted into sheer pandemonium.
A few of my takes on the action on the field and some of the referee's dubious calls...
1. Every referee blows calls, you only hope those blown calls don't have an impact on the result of the game. The Norwegian man in the middle last night wasn't that lucky. All his mistakes seem to big huge ones. That being said, I found it very disappointing to see the likes of Thierry Henry taking shots at the referee and saying he cost them the game.
2. To Arsenal fans lamenting Eto'o goal because he appeared to be just a wee bit offside, I urge you to consider the goal the referee took away from FCB with his quick whistle on Jens Lehmann's red-card foul. Everyone watching the game knew he should have let play continue and allowed the goal. The referee himself even came out after the game and told the newspapers he blew the call.
3. On top of that, take a close look at the "foul" that led to Sol Campbell's fabulous goal for Arsenal. What a fantastic dive by Eboue.
4. Thierry Henry cried after the game over little fouls that weren't being called. Anyone else find it quite ironic that an English Premier League team would be the ones whining about the rough play of a Spanish La Liga team?
5. Henry's yellow card was an atrocious call by the referee.
6. Frank Rijkaard's substitutions sure make him look a genius. Henrik Larsson steps on the pitch, and in his farewell performance for FCB, sets up BOTH goals. Meanwhile, inserting Juliano Belletti into the game allowed the Brazilian to score the game-winner.
Despite all the action on the field, my greatest memories of the night come from the celebrating here in Barcelona after the game. La Rambla was literally slammed with wall-to-wall people. We couldn't even make our way from our apartment to Plaza Catalunya. Those of you who have visited us know that means we are talking about a serious amounts of humanity. However, the enormous crowd ended up being a stroke of good luck for us.
Determined to make it to Plaza Catalunya, Kate and I cut through the tiny twisting streets of our neighborhood in Barrio Gothico. Halfway to Plaza Catalunya, we encountered a drum corp consisting of nothing but local boys, not a one of them older than probably 15. These kids were busting out an awesome samba beat and just walking through the Barrio on their way to La Rambla. Aside from the eight or so drummers, the only people really walking with them at this point were their parents and few revelers who had taken to dancing along right in front or behind the drum procession.
It was such a cool scene that it was a no-brainer for Kate and I to scrap our Plaza Catalunya objective and turn around to join the samba brigade. It didn't take long for just about everyone the brigade passed to turn around and join the fun. As we neared La Rambla, even the revelers on that crazy boulevard shifted their attention to us.
When we reached La Rambla, the kids turned the brigade left and we spent the next hour entranced in a magical samba down the boulevard toward the Christopher Columbus statue near the harbor. Our group, which once numbered just a dozen or so, swelled to hundreds, maybe even a thousand as the masses parted so we could pass through. As colorful flares lit up the sky, casting misty red shadows on all the buildings along La Rambla, people came out on their balconies to bask in the glow of an FCB championship and soak in the music from our little drummer boys.
This season has left me with too many incredible memories about FCB to count. But the Samba down La Rambla is right up there near the top of the list.
Now that FCB's season has come to a close, Kate and I are convinced being here during this season is one of the more charmed strokes of good fortune we've experienced. Starting with the free tickets to the Chelsea game and ending with the Samba down La Rambla, we couldn't have asked for a more miraculous time than our FC Barcelona McVenture.
posted by Sean McMahon | 10:33 AM
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