Albirroja!!!

Last night all of Paraguay came to a grinding halt. The TV announcer commented that "surely 6 million souls of Paraguayans here and abroad are watching their televisions with great expectations and hopes." What could generate this sort of overwhelming national unity--the hopes and dreams of an entire country united for a moment? The World Cup qualifying match between Paraguay and Argentina, of course. Only the bitter hatred and enmity of a futbol rivalry could bring out this sort of passion. Especially since the Paraguayan national team has been playing especially well this year...and Argentina has suffered some rather embarrassing defeats (namely, being routed by Bolivia in the last round of matches...ouch! But also still stinging from a 3-1 loss to Brazil over the weekend). So, despite the pounding spring rain, Ciudad del Este was festooned with Paraguayan flags for sale, knock-off Paraguayan national team jerseys, and lines were out the door at supermarkets selling beer and snack food. Exciting!!!

Lucia and Modesta invited us (me and Christine, the yankees) over to their house to watch the game. Lucia usually goes to night-school for an Agricultural Engineering degree on weekdays, but laughed when I asked if she had to go to class tonight or if she was staying home to watch the game. Class is of course cancelled for special occasions like this! So we brought the beer and chorizo, and Lucia donned her Paraguayan soccer jersey, and we settled in to watch the game (Modesta disappeared for a bit so there were just the two Americans and the Paraguayan to cheer on the national team).

And both teams came out strong, with all the speed, agility and tactics to best their rival. Argentina's star striker, Messi, looked particularly dangerious. And sometimes Paraguay seems overconfident, or like it lacks team cohesion, so it was a thrill to see the team controlling the midfield and making some very credible attacks on goal in the first minutes of the game. Two close shots by Paraguayan strikers that careened off the goalposts. And then at minute 27 GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Paraguayan striker number 18, Haedo, took a pass from number 10 Cabañas, three touches, and then delivered it artfully to the back of the net. Pandemonium!!!! Firecrackers, car horns, shotgun blasts...the whole country seemed to come unhinged with glee! And of course the three of us happily yell GOL!!!!!!! along with the TV announcer, who--like all sports commentators in Latin America--must practice circular breathing in order to sustain the "GOL" for as long as humanly possible. And then Modesta's cranky old Portuguese/Brazilian husband (he's visiting from his house in Porto Seguro, Brazil for awhile) stomped out and told us to knock it off. Which is crazy since ALL OF PARAGUAY was celebrating ecstatically at that point. And our shouting was almost completely drowned out by the complete insanity outside (did I mention firecrackers? And shotgun blasts?). So in a huff, Lucia packed up the snacks and stomped outside, her patriotic sensibilities quite ruffled by the no-good Brazilian. And we watched the rest of the game at my apartment--luckily my pirated cable TV held out long enough for us to watch Paraguay defend its lead, and beat Argentina 1-0. How funny that the yankee's house is the best place to cheer for Paraguay!

Paraguay qualifies for World Cup South Africa 2010. And today, many bleary-eyed Paraguayans are stumbling into work a wee bit late, but very very happy!