Barcelona is in the autonomous community of Catalonia, a semi-self governing region of Spain. Due to oppression during the Franco regime, among other reasons, Catalans are generally not fond of Spain, and there is a significant separatist movement that would have nothing to do with it. Regardless of personal political leanings, most Catalans are extremely proud of their culture and language, and displays of nationalism are abundant.
This past Friday there was supposed to be a soccer game between the national teams of Catalunya and the USA, but the Real Federación Española de Fútbol (The Royal Spanish Football Federation) did not approve of the match, and denied permission for it to be held. This was ostensibly because it was scheduled too close to other international games, as well as on Día de la Hispanidad (Hispanic Day), a Spanish national holiday. As an act of defiance, the Catalan Court Soccer Federation set up two matches against the USA court soccer team, to be held on Friday and Sunday.
I went to the second game on Sunday night, which was in a small indoor arena and was sparsely attended. It was fun, though. I went with my Catalan language exchange partner, Marc. He told me to bring my American flag, but, alas, I did not have one.
The USA team lost both games, 7-1 and 6-1. I missed the only American goal, as I was too busy taking a picture. Only afterwards did I realize that I happened to capture it going in.
2 comments:
no american flag? shocking.
No flag? NO FLAG?!! How can you go to a football game and not bring your flag. I'm disgusted. What kind of fan are you?
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