Dribbling the Ball in Panama

In an effort to capture the action of a football game in Panama, I went to the Rommel Fernández Stadium at Juan Díaz.  Before I go on, let me clarify that in this neck of the woods, football is the equivalent of soccer in the United States.  Panama is becoming addicted to this game, after giving it a cold shoulder for years.  Baseball was the preferred sports.  Not anymore.  That stadium was filled to capacity last night.

Panama national team was playing with the national team of El Salvador in preparation for the Golden Cup and the next FIFA World Cup to be celebrated in Brazil in 2014.  They said it was a friendly match, but we all know both teams were programmed to fight tooth and nail to come out with a victory.  Panama won the match 1-0, although their performance was a little less than mediocre.

The match started at 09:00 p.m. sharp.   However, I got to the venue at 5:00 p.m. to insure I had a parking space and avoid the long lines at the entrance of the building.  Everything went smoothly as planned.  I was comfortably seated in my place at 6:30 p.m. looking for potential places and people to photograph.

Below are some main highlights of the event:

• Beer is heavily promoted.  It flowed generously in the stadium consumed by both adults and very young kids.  I was impressed in seeing young girls drinking beer, one plastic container after the other.  The sale of beer was out of control.
• Girls are wearing very short and tight hot pants instead of the traditional jeans.  Every single one of them had the classical cellphone in their hands.  Blackberrys were the most preferred.
• Vendors were everywhere doing an excellent job in selling their stuff.  They sold beer, sodas, pizzas, ceviche, tacos and hamburgers.  You had no excuse to be thirsty or hungry.
• Prices were very reasonable.  I paid $9.50 for the preserved West Section usually attended by middle class fans.  The general admittance had a price tag of $8.00.  This section was sold out two days before the event.
• Children were present at the game, but not as much as I saw in baseball games.
• The organization of the event was first-class.  Everything flowed smoothly and on time which is not usual in this part of the world.
• The official colors of the Panama team is red, so the whole stadium was dyed in red.  Not being a sports fan, I wore a white shirt which contrasted with the bright red background.  I felt shy.
• Total revenue was $121,000 paid by 14,000 football fans.  Not bad for a friendly game.

Below are several pictures taken during the event.  They will give you an idea of the general atmosphere inside a football game in Panama.  Here we go.

 

General view of the Rommel Fernández Stadium located in Panama City, Panama. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Another view of the impressive sports venue recently restored in preparation for international sporting events being planned by PanDeportes. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Photograph of a bunch of kids playing outside the stadium. They were more than glad to pose for the camera. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

A sign at the entrance of the stadium to help the public find their corresponding seats. I attended the West Wing of the venue. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Picture of one of the more than 300 vendors inside the stadium selling all sorts of beverages and food. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Picture of a tray of tacos, ketchup and hamburgers being sold at the football game last evening. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Picture of the bus bringing in the players of the El Salvador football team. They arrived at approximately 6:30 p.m. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Picture of a group of visitors from the great state Iowa enjoying the sporting event. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Photograph of several American visitors having a good time at the football match last night in Panama City, Panama. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

A general view of the public who attended the football game last night. Notice the hot pants of the girls at the game. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Picture of several young girls waiting for the game to begin. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

A proud father piggy backs his son during a football game in Panama City, Panama last night. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Football is no longer a men’s game. Women are great football fans in Panama. This is an eloquent example. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Photograph of the presentation of the Panama and El Salvador football teams shortly before the start of the match. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

All of these picture were shot with a compact point-and-shoot camera with automatic settings, no flash and without a tripod.  The name of the camera is Canon PowerShot A720 IS. With a price tag of only $249.00 its results are more than generous.  Good Day.

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Spain Grasped the Golden Cup

Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas, left, receives the World Cup trophy from FIFA President Sepp Blatter. (Credit: Yahoo.com)

After a global frenzy month of football, the games are finally over.  Spain won the golden cup and the Netherlands sadly returns home with shattered dreams.  Nerves and renewed dreams will have to wait patiently for another four years.  The year is 2014 and the place is none other than Rio de Janeiro, a city that knows how to organize huge events.

With a goal from Andrés Iniesta in the 26th minute of extra time, Spain became the eighth country to win the World Cup, beating the Netherlands by 1-0 before 85,000 fans at Soccer City in Johannesburg and millions of television viewers around the world.

FIFA is betting on a global audience of over 700 million people watching the games.  In the Netherlands, 90 percent fans nervously followed the games.  If the final match, which took place yesterday afternoon,  fulfilled FIFA’s forecasts, the global audience will have surpassed the 600 millions which viewed the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.  With today’s telecommunications technology, the whole world is a giant living room.

South Africa gave us two wonderful gifts.  The first one is the vuvuzela, and the second one is the pervasiveness of the Web in the global transmission of the games.  Let me expand on these two African legacies.

What’s plastic, a meter long, brightly colored and sounds like an elephant? It’s the vuvuzela, the noise-making trumpet of South African football fans, and it’s come to symbolize the sport in the South Africa.  It’s an instrument, but not always a musical one. Describing the atmosphere in a stadium packed with thousands of fans blowing their vuvuzelas is difficult. Up close it’s an elephant, sure, but en masse the sound is more like a massive swarm of very angry bees.

From now on, expect to find millions of football fans frantic blowing their brightly colored vuvuzelas.  They have come to stay and put our ear drums to test.  Their first performance at a soccer match was at the Nelson Mandela challenge match at Ellis Park stadium on November 2007, when Bafana Bafana took on the USA.  I can just imagine a Yankee game with thousands of vuvuzelas being blown in the background.  Baseball will never the same.

The second legacy of FIFA’s 2010 World Cup is the ubiquitous presence of the Web.  For the first time, swarms of football fans turned  on their computers, iTouches, iPhones, and other similar gadgets to watch the games.  Cable TV is no longer the king of the heap in the transmission of global events.  It will now have to compete with the Cloud.

I saw most of the 64 football matches comfortably sitting in front of  my computer desk.  I just clicked the link of Televisa Deportes of Mexico, and the games were on.  No commercials.  The Mexican commentators were first class, the image was satisfactory and the audio was excellent.  I didn’t have  to pay Cable Onda a single copper.

Televisa Deportes was streaming  its signal—free of charge—to the following countries in Latin America:

• Bolivia
• Chile
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• El Salvador
• Guatemala
• Honduras
• Nicaragua
• Panama
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Uruguay

Yep, times are changing and I love it.  In the future, cable television will have a hard time competing with Internet TV and we might see falling prices for their services.  The same phenomenon happened with the telephone industry after Skype and others decided to allow free phone calls over the Internet.

A sad Dutch female fan watches the fall of her team against Spain last Sunday. The golden opportunity for the Netherlands was lost 0-1. Picture taken from my computer screen - Televisa Deportes.com.

The vuvuzelas in South Africa are now sleeping for the time being.  The Spanish revelers are dancing their victory and enjoying the sweet juices of Bacchus until the next tournament in 2014.  Then it will be the Samba games with the tropical rhythms of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.  Que viva el fútbol! Que viva España!  Good Day.

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Mixing the World Cup With a Birthday Party and Father’s Day

There is a lot of action in Panama City these days.  The World Cup has taken the country by storm and the city is full of flags of the countries participating in the tournament being held in South Africa.  It’s nice to see all those street vendors peddling their flags and other sports paraphernalia under the traffic lights.  The most popular flags are those of Brazil and Argentina.

Another social event which is agitating the country is Father’s Day.  The shopping centers are crowded with customers buying their favorite presents for the fathers of Panama.  I’m sure many football sweaters will be wrapped up for a proud father today.  This is a mandatory present during these days of football fever.

Today is also Abdiel’s birthday.  For those who are new to Lingua Franca, let me say that Abdiel is our grand nephew and a bright star in our life.  He is seven years old.  As thousands and thousands of kids in Panama, he has also caught the football fever.  He cajoled his parents into buying him a plastic belt with the colors of Brazil, a sweater with the emblems of Brazil and a birthday cake with the shape and colors of a Brazilian football field with a plastic football in the middle.

He can even sing David Bisbal’s World Cup song.  Oh…before I forget, he also received a big FIFA World Cup full of sweeties for his birthday.

This is how happy Abdiel was with his FIFA World Cup yesterday afternoon.  Abdiel’s sister, Karol, also joined the fun with her brother.  Below are several photographs of the “twisters” having fun with the cup.  Needless to say, I felt very happy with all this activity going on in our country.  It’s amazing how an event taking place so far away has transformed our city.

Photograph of FIFA's World Cup which Abdiel received as a birthday present. It was filled with assorted Jello sweeties. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

A proud Abdiel holds FIFA's World Cup. He's so happy he's jumping outside of his skin. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Karol has also caught the football fever, although her knowledge of the sport is not that impressive. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

The cup seemed to be the center of attention of both kids. Is there a potential Pelé in Abdiel? Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

A proud football fan holds the golden cup in a gesture of triumph. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Karol's bliss shows that women also have a taste for the sport. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Photograph of the whole bunch having fun with the cup and the birthday cake. From left to right; Aura (my wife), Abdiel, Karol and Alcibiades (Abdiel's father). Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

If kids would only commit a minuscule part of the attention they dedicate to a sport like football, the world would be flooded with Albert Einstens and Isaac Newtons.  Good Day and Happy Birthday Abdiel.  This is your day!

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Technology and the FIFA Football World Cup

Panama has caught the football fever or soccer as it’s known in the United States.  Football is the hot word everywhere.  Newspapers, radio stations, TV stations, coffee shops, offices, parks…you name it, people have only one topic to talk about—football.  I guess this is also happening in your neck of the woods as well.

During my younger years, FIFA’s World Cup could only be viewed on television.  I recall Edmundo Vargas was the pioneer TV commentator loaded with fresh information about the tournament which is held every four years.  Due to lack of commercial support, not all games were broadcasted.  We only enjoyed those games where the most popular teams played, like Brazil, Argentina, Germany, the Netherlands or Spain.

As technology evolved, the images had more vivid colors, better audio quality and a whole new set of slow motion scenes.  Nowadays you can see every single drop of sweat dropping from the players’ faces.  The clarity of the image is absolutely amazing.  When 3D television reaches the masses, future FIFA Word Cup games will be a must-see event.

In Panama several TV stations have been broadcasting the event, (e.g., Televisora Nacional TVN-2, RPC Televison and TV Max.  However, not all games are broadcasted.  If you want to see the most interesting matches, you need to have cable television; mainly Cable Onda which is a major cable TV operator in Panama.

I don’t have cable TV installed in our house.  I don’t need it, since all the information I need is available on the Internet.  This is the case with the current World Cup.  Panama TVN-2 signed an agreement with Televisa in Mexico to cover the tournament  By clicking a link on TVN-2′s Web site, you can view almost every match of the cup  on the Internet.  Televisa Deportes has excellent soccer commentators.  The image is acceptable with excellent audio and decent video.  My system is downloading Televisa’s broadcast at a speed that ranges between 235 and 480 Kbps.

The cloud is taking over 2010 FIFA’s Soccer World Cup, and in the near future, I’m sure all world events will be planned with the Internet in mind.   All technologies are rapidly converging into the Internet.  Nobody has understood this better than Apple.  Its innovative strategy is to connect its gadgets to the cloud, thus the “i” in their products, (e.g., iMac, iPod, iPad, iPhone and so forth).

The match between Spain and Switzerland was not transmitted by the major free broadcast television stations. in Panama  No problem, I switched to Televisa Deportes, and lo and behold, the game was right there before my very eyes.  It was a nail-biting game in which Switzerland surprised the world by beating Spain 1-0.

With the aid of the Internet, FIFA’s Football World cup is available everywhere in the country.  All you need is a gadget to plug it  into the cloud and you’re in business.  Viva Internet television!  Good Day.

Televisa Deportes (Señal Partido en Directo Aquí)

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Is this Foot-ball of Belly-ball?

Man, how can this guy run with a belly like that?

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Conducting a Football Symphony

Coach Guardiola is intensely concentrated conducting a football symphony in Barcelona, Spain. (Credit: Joseph Lago/AFP/Getty Images)

Barcelona Spanish coach Joseph Guardiola gestures during the UEFA Cup Champions League Football match against Wisla Krakow at the Camp Nou Stadium outside Barcelona.

When I first saw this photograph, I honestly thought the man in the photograph was a conductor busy conducting a philharmonic orchestra. I was wrong. It was a Spanish coach giving instructions to his team in a football or soccer match in Europe.

I would like to clarify that the proper name of the sport is Association Football commonly known as Football or Soccer. Other names of this popular sport is Futbol or Footy/Footie.

According to FIFA, the “very earliest form of the game for which there is scientific evidence was an exercise of precisely this skillful technique dating back to the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC in China (the game of cuju).” In addition, the Roman game harpastum may be a distant ancestor of football. Various forms of football were played in medieval Europe, though rules varied greatly by both period and location.

Today, football is played all over the world. Millions of people regularly go to football stadiums to follow their favorite teams, while billions more watch the game on television. According to a survey conducted by FIFA published in 2001, over 240 million people from more than 200 countries regularly play football.

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