Olimpia's Woes

On Wednesday I went back to see Olimpia again (this time leaving behind my cell phone and carrying with me exactly enough money to for three (just in case) bus rides and a ticket for the cheapest section). Cristian and Juan Carlos were busy managing a dinner party for a visiting Menonite youth group (believe it or not, there is a “Menonite Colony” in rural Paraguay), so I went alone. My knowledge of Asunción transportation is still far from adequate and my first choice of bus turned off in the wrong direction about a black after I got on. I got off and walked back to the main avenue to try again. After about 5 minutes, three buses came around the corner, one of which was singing.

As far as I could tell, the 20 or so fans that filled the back of the bus with black and white jerseys and fight songs maintained the same (high) decibel level throughout the 15 minute bus ride, the 10 minute shuffle through security, and both 45 minute halves of the match. They quieted down briefly at half time, if only because most had to push their way through the crowd to discharge the pre-game beer that had now made a thorough run of their bodily systems.

Olimpia is having a rough season. Going in to Wednesday, they had only one win in the current Paraguayan tournament and were on the brink of elimination from the South American Cup. The week before, they had sacked their old coach and brought in Ever Almeida, an ex-star goal keeper. During his legendary career, Almeida and Olimpia twice won the Copa de Libertadores (A Latin American championship) as well as several Paraguayan titles and one world-wide club championship. Still, this week’s newspapers and posts on sporting websites showed only tempered optimism.

At least on Wednesday night, the “tempered” part tuned out to be more appropriate than the “optimistic.” Olimpia created multiple chances in the first 20 minutes, but never looked like scoring. Once an Olimpia forward raised his hand pleading for a corner kick, almost before the shot had left his own foot. His confidence that the attempt would go wide was matched only by that of the opposing goal keeper, who hardly moved. Disappointing as it was, the first quarter of the match was Olimpia’s best. They hardly had a chance in the second half and went down 2-0 on defensive errors; one a dumb tackle in the box that awarded Guaraní a penalty, the other a series of flubbed clearances by defenders combined with a fumble by the keeper and ending with a Guaraní forward dribbling the loose ball into the net, un-molested.

The soccer not particularly compelling, I spent much of the second half watching the crowd. Standing to my left was a large, goatee’d fan whose shaved head revealed bulging veins after each Olimpia mis-play. He usually followed his short, furious bursts of profanity with a cigarette, emptying most of a pack before leaving the stands. Early in the half, his asked a friend “this is the first team playing, right? I can’t tell,” and was apparently pleased with his own wit, repeating the sarcastic query 5 or 6 more times before 90 minutes. To my right were a group of kids about my age who seemed to gain more pleasure from taunting stadium vendors than from watching their team self-destruct. They would scream “soda!!” at the chipa vendors and “milk!!” at the hat salesmen, snickering proudly when one actually turned to tell them he didn’t have any. These are apparently common stadium antics. Cristian did the same a week and half ago, yelling at vendors who chanted “coca cola” to ‘remind’ them they also sold Fanta and water.

I left the stadium quickly after the final whistle, not wanting to keep anyone waiting at home. The Olimpia fans seemed more dejected and depressed than angry and there wasn’t much violence. Still, since the match, many have worried, out-loud and in print, that the “barra de la O,” as the most fanatic are called, will turn to out-and-out destruction if their side continues to disappoint.