Granada FC - A Day on the Pitch

Granada has its own futbol (soccer) team, in the division just below the big teams of Spain (such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, etc). This post will document some of the photos from the second game I saw.

The stadium is pretty close to where I live...maybe 10 minutes by bus. It's a pretty crazy atmosphere outside of the stadium before a game. Lots of chanting, singing songs, people drinking at one of the many nearby bars. There's a bunch of little kiosks and vendors trying to get you to buy random Granada FC (futbol club) stuff. Eventually we walk up to the ticket window and say "Lo mas barato por favor" which means "the cheapest ticket you have." The prices can vary depending on the time of the game and the opponent. When Granada was playing Betis, a team from northern Spain which was in 1st place in the league at the time, I heard the cheapest tickets were 35 euros. Both times I have gone, however, the tickets have been 20. 

We enter the stadium, find our seats at the very top, and start to take it in.

 Sadly the day was a bit foggy, but you can see the Sierra Nevada in the background.

 I don't know what the mascot is supposed to be, but this is him.

 Tons of excitement in the stands as the players make their way out onto the field. Granada is apparently playing the best they have in the past 5 or so years. The first game I saw, within the first 15 minutes, the Granada goalie (portero in Spanish) got a red card for trying to slide tackle in the box. He was ejected, the other team scored on the penalty kick, and Granada was quickly down 0-1 playing with only 10 men (you normally have 11). After halftime, the team completely got in a groove, scoring the tying goal with about 15 minutes left on an amazing header, and then the winning goal with about 3 minutes left. The place was electric.

 One of the Granada players kicking a corner.

 Aaaaand the obvious worst part of futbol. The part with which I am really losing my patience after these months in Spain. This is a sport, but as you can see above, its more of an argument. Players take flops when someone "trips" them to try to draw a call from the referee. Yes, this happens in other sports too, but not NEARLY as often as it does here. And none of these guys are good actors. It gets really annoying to watch.

 Another corner. Took this shot through the railing in front of me.

This game went much better for Granada. They got the opening goal, then the other team tied it back up. After halftime, Granada got 2 more goals, all of which were on rocketed shots that were really well placed. Every time there's a goal for Granada, the whole stadium sings a song that I've begun to learn the words.

"Whooooooaaaa oooaa oaaaa oaa, whooooooaaaaa oooaaa oaaa ooo...Vamo(s) mi Granada, Vamos Campeon!"

I tried my best to encapsulate the sound of it. I put the (s) in parenthesis because it's really not pronounced here. As I learned in my previous Spanish linguistics class, it is common in some parts of the Spanish speaking world to drop last syllables, or sometimes certain sounds altogether. For example, a funny line we say here between friends is "No pa na en Grana." Literally, a lot of Granadinos will say this line, or close to it, which should actually be "No pasa nada en Granada" (Don't worry about it (anything) in Granada). I've become accustomed to saying thank you (gracias) as just gracia. The phrase "hasta luego" which means see you later, has become "ta'luego" or even just "ta'lueo". This is stuff we do in English too, for sure, but its really noticeable here in Granada.

 Granada wins, and the fans filter out pretty quickly.

 Well, everyone filters out except this one section of the stadium, which is the losing teams fans.

 Afterwards, we walk towards the bus, but decide to grab some tapas before heading back. For 2.50, I got a beer and one of these taste sandwiches.

Alas, here is the beer that I got, the one I've been raving about since i got here. Alhambra Reserva 1925. Very smooth, a bit higher alcohol content (6.4%) and just delicious. Goes with anything. Had quite a few of these in my time here. Definitely going to miss this, and the ability to eat outside for 2.50 and have a decent sized meal.