Football fever hits again

We are about to be hit by another bout of football fever.

In just 10 days the Copa America kicks off- the South American Cup. And it is being held here in Argentina, even with 4 games here in Cordoba.

We didn't manage to get tickets to the Argentine games, but we are able to go and see the Brazilians play, first against Paraguay and then against Ecuador. It should be good fun!

On the theme of football, tonight there is a big game in town. One of the local Cordoba teams- Belgrano, plays against one of the famous Buenos Aires teams, River Plate. Belgrano is trying to go up into the Premier Division and River Plate, surprisingly, is trying to avoid going down. Its a big thing for Cordoba, because there hasn't been a Cordoba team in the Premier league for ages. A game to bring out the best of the inter-provincial rivalries.

I was reminded on the weekend just how important football is here. It was free time at the young adults camp and do you think we might just kick the ball around in a fun game? Oh no, we started one game when the numbers were even, but then had to stop and completely reorganise because 3 or 4 more guys arrived wanting to play. This was serious stuff. In the end we ended up with 3 teams and we played 10 minute games, with the loser being replaced by the other team. They even handed out some prizes that night- which Lachie was happy with as he scored a Coke for being on the winning team. A reminder though not to take free time on camps lightly...

Having said that about football, perhaps it is just Argentines and sport generally. The young people wouldn't start playing a game of volleyball until we had 6 a side- 5 a side just isn't the same!