Two Soccer Games.

The day we went to Ingapirca, we left Oscar with our friends Wally and Hazel, they have a dog care business, which really isn't the right term.  It isn't a really a business for them, the dogs they care for are treated like their own.  In the background are their own two dogs, Seamus an Irish Terrier, and Velkey a German Shepherd.   For those who don't know, Oscar is the gordo (fat) little black and white guy.

Oscar at doggy daycare, playing with the big boys!

A few days later we heard about an event for kids to fly kites in a park not far from our house, we all thought that would be cool to watch and maybe get a few interesting pictures.  We met up with Wally and Hazel and their two pooches.  We strolled to the park, dodging stray dogs along the way, most are harmless, but there are a few aggressive little street munchkins.

 We arrived at the park to find a soccer game being played by local teenagers.  Not a kite in sight.  Guess we had the wrong park.  Oh well!!!  We watched the game for a bit, and then strolled home, again dodging stray dogs.  Hazel was great, we would be walking along and she would keep an eye out for the strays and say "Two dogs on the left coming up",  "Shar-Pei on the right" etc.  so we could navigate our way around the strays!!! 

A day in the Park

Our friend Efrian had asked us to go to a professional Soccer game with him, so the day after our adventure to the park, he picked us up and took us to the Stadium in the center of the city to watch a match between Cuenca and Quito.  Apparently is was a very important game,  kind of a "do or die" situation for the Coach of the Cuenca team, win the match or loose his job, and the opponent, Quito, is the best team in Ecuador.  Lots on the line!!!

Cuenca Team Mascot and his Dog

There is a Lion on the Cuenca team patch, so this guy shows up at every game in his Lion outfit and cheers the game on, along with his little dog.  He marches out with the team and runs around waving his flag and taking pictures with people,  the two are quite popular. 

These three were quite a hit!!

As Efrian said, this is the worst Lion mask EVER.

Efrian explained that there are 11 players on the field, and the fans and mascot are considered to the the 12th player on the team,  that is why the Mascot wears the number 12 on his jersey.

Cuenca Fans with smoke bombs

We were in the high rent seats, so the people around us were quite civilized, but the folks across the field in the equivalent of "bleacher" seats never stopped dancing and partying, it was fun to watch, but we were quite pleased we weren't sitting over there.  When the Cuenca team took the field those fans went crazy, smoke bombs, confetti, singing, pounding, playing drums and dancing. 

Quito fans. 

The Quito fans wear white, and the Cuenca fans wear Red/Black.  The Quito fans climbed up behind the sponsor sign and hung a banner promoting their team, it is hard to see, but there are three heads popping up behind the sign.  Passionate crowd.

Great Security

The fans of the opposing teams are kept in seperate sections to avoid trouble.  These are Cuenca police officers making sure the paths of the fans don't cross.  We were told that the fans of the visiting teams are held in the stadium until all the Cuenca fans are gone, again, to avoid altercations in the streets.  Apparently they had to really crack down on hooliganism after a death a few years back.

Cuenca fans and their banners.

Cuenca made the first goal, and the crowd was thrilled.  In the second half, the Quito team seemed much more motivated and they were really controlling the field, and then they scored.  Ok, now the score is 1 - 1, this went on for awhile, if it was a cartoon, smoke would have been coming out of our friend Efrian's ears, he was steaming due to a few bone head plays by the Cuenca goalie.  It was down to the last three minutes of the game and CUENCA SCORES!!!!!!!!!!!  The crowd went nuts.  So, "we" won the game and the fans didn't spare the enthusiasm.

So, we had never been to a soccer game before, and this particular weekend, we got to see two.