Kimberly Perez-Lucero is a student at Ramapo College of New Jersey and an ISA Featured Blogger. She is studying abroad with ISA in Barcelona, Spain.
Whether you get a seat that’s far or close, you cannot leave Barcelona without being in the atmosphere of a Barҫa game. The chants and commentary around you make the game even more alive! You will not only hear Catalans and Spaniards, but also elderly people or even children from London, Brazil, and Argentina. I have always loved the idea of sports games because it brings all different sorts of people together. It is pretty amazing if you give it a thought. You are in a stadium full of thousands of people for the sole purpose of watching a soccer game. However, this is not just any soccer game. This game has the legend himself, Lionel Messi.
Not everyone needs to know how soccer games work or be a huge fan to see a game. But, it is essential to know some basics so you could enjoy the game! So here are a few tips:
- A game itself is about 90 or so minutes long. After the first half or 45 minutes there is a break of 10 minutes. I advise if you want to get up from your seat, try going before the game since lines will be longer during halftime.
- For the first half, teams have their designated goal to score but after halftime it switches to the other side. So if you can, try to buy tickets on the side lines to see the full game rather than trying to be close to a goal to see players closer. They will only be closer to you for one half of the game!
- Players are very dramatic and so is the crowd. If the opposing player ever knocks a Barҫa player down, the crowd will go wild because there should always be a yellow card drawn (even if the player may just be faking it.)
- If a referee does call an actual foul, he will pull out a yellow card for the player’s first offense. But if the same player receives another foul or if the foul is very serious, then the player will receive a red card. A red card means the player is suspended from the game and the team has to play the remainder of the game with 10 players instead of 11!
- Once there is a foul, there is a free kick rewarded to the player and these are times of suspense and thrill because they may end up in goals!
Other times there may be goals:
Penalty shots, corner kicks, & whenever Messi has the ball!
I wish I could say all I know, but soccer is a universal sport that could enchant anyone! I hope you can go along with the crowd and cheer or boo at the right times! These games should be valued for what they are because they are beautiful in every sense. They can also be a dream come true for many people, as it was for me.
The world awaits…..discover it!