Shame on you, Betis!

As I mentioned many times before, I’m sevillista, a fan of Sevilla Football Club, and our biggest opponent is Real Betis Balompie. The teams are from the same city and Betis just came up to the first league after a year in second, so the derbies are back!

I went to one just before Christmas. I had a lot of fun walking with all the supporters to the other stadium and singing our song during the whole game, which unfortunately was really boring! We had just found out that we would play against each other in the Spanish cup too, so this was the first derby of three within a month. No goals, no attacks, a referee that blew the whistle for every tiny incident and killed the game. And well, I guess they were all nervous and didn’t want to make any stupid mistakes.

What’s worse is what happened after the game. For security reasons we had to stay in the stadium for another 45-60 min after the end of the game, which is understandable. What I don’t understand however, is how it can be allowed to play the hymn (of Betis) on broken speakers that were placed just behind us, on unacceptable high volume and they didn’t play it once or twice, but twenty-one times! I didn’t count, but apparently someone did and wrote it on Facebook the day after. It was absurd! We started making fun of it and every time the song came to an end, we all started shouting “otra, otra..” (more or less like saying one more time..) and we flashed our phones in the old lighter-style. The only thing that made it worth staying and listening to this awful hymn (I really hate it now!) was that our players came out and thanked us.

And that was the first out of three…

Yesterday the first round of the cup was played and we won! 0-2! I didn’t go but I went to a bar to see it with some friends. The game was better than last time, quicker, more aggressive, and of course, two goals! Betis had a penalty in the 81st minute, but Ruben Castro sent the ball up to the spectators behind the goal. Then they received a red card (after two yellow). I saw on TV how the Betis fans started to leave the arena, and I understand them…

And, after the game, another disaster! The Sevilla fans had to stay more or less 30 minutes in the stadium, once again because of security reasons, and what happened? Yes, of course! The hymn was played again! And were the speakers fixed? NO! Incredible.. In the video you can see how the fans are dancing and showing the light on their phones, and after one minute you’ll hear what it sounded like for them… But yesterday the players never came out to thank their fans. Why? Because someone had closed the gate to the field and they couldn’t go out there.

After the first game the President of Sevilla FC only said that this isn’t anything that we will do at our stadium, because it’s just mean.

Shame on you, Betis!

Rainy days

The rain is back in Seville! I’m not a big fan, but days when I actually can stay in and do whatever I want, I don’t mind it. So here I am, watching TV, organizing my stuff, cleaning and checking things on the Internet.

I have one big problem though… I have to go grocery shopping… I look out the window and now might be a good time to go, because the rain has stopped and the sky looks nice. But no… I’m curled up on the couch with my cup of tea and I have no intentions whatsoever to leave right now…

Tomorrow I’m going to Sevilla FC’s game against Manchester City. I’m really excited but a bit worried about the weather… A few months ago I went to another game and it was just pouring down! Same thing tomorrow night… But they’re worth it!

And talking about rain… I hate it when actors can’t cry and they just fake it. I’ve just witnessed three attempts of miss “Carrie Bradshaw” crying over Big having a heart surgery. Big fail.

Well, time to go!

It’s not every day you see your students on the news…

For the last month I’ve had a new student in the academy where I work and he’s not like any other student, this one is famous! He used to play football in Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, and also in the National team of Spain. His name is Sergi Barjuan.

He is a really cool guy, very nice and humble, but also a lot of fun. He has never really studied English, he was born and raised in Barcelona and studied Spanish, Catalan and French at school, his English is more or less self taught during his years as a footballer.

When I first met him I was surprised by his level, it seems a lot higher because he dares to try! He speaks to me in English all the time and he really tries. He doesn’t get it all right grammatically, and sometimes he lacks some words, but he gets himself understood. That’s why he needed classes and came to us at the academy.

We’ve been having classes for about a month now, I loved it, someone to talk football with! And I think that his English has improved, at least his understanding of the structure of the language, but if he remembers it, we’ll see…

Anyway, yesterday I saw on the news (sport news that is) that he just got signed for Almería as their new coach. Great! I’m really happy for him and I hope he can make Almería stay in the first division (they’re third last but with quite a lot of teams with similar points). And yes, of course this means that he won’t be able to attend his classes in Seville anymore.. Bummer, but maybe he’ll be back? In the meantime we decided to keep in contact and I’m going to keep a close eye on Almerías progress… First game tomorrow against Barcelona!

#CreerSevilla

Hoy juega Sevilla FC contra Real Madrid, el líder de la liga… Recuerdo que hace un par de años Real Madrid tuvieron problemas cuando jugaban contra Sevilla, éramos su talón de Aquiles. Desafortunadamente ya no lo somos… Pero hoy sí vamos a ganar! Uno de los jugadores de Sevilla, Krychowiak, ha creado un hashtag para Sevilla y el partido. #CreerSevilla @GrzegKrychowiak

No puedo ver el partido porque es en Madrid, pero lo escucharé en la radio mientras estoy en el gimnasio…

Sevilla – Espanyol, second time

I’m at the football stadium right now waiting for the game to begin. It’s the second time sevilla plays against espanyol this week. I hope we win today!! Big time!

My language at the football stadium

When I was at the game last night it made me think, what language do I watch football in?

I go alone but know some Spanish people sitting around me, so when I speak, it’s in Spanish, but all these small comments, what language are they in? I think in all three… When swearing I usually say it in Swedish because 1) they come spontaneously and 2) I don’t like the Spanish words for swearing. They use words like coño and puta, and in Swedish we talk about the devil. I also find it funny how all the Spanish, especially boys and men, talk to the players and the referee, they comment a lot, swear a lot and insult a lot. Sometimes the things they say are quite funny, they just yell out “referee, just so you know, you’re very ugly” or “your socks are too big”. What surprised me one day though was when I went on a Sunday at 12pm. The stadium was full of families and kids! Isn’t Sunday church day? Well, instead they go to watch a game and the kids, they swear! I don’t think I would ever let my future kids say so many awful things when being that young but I guess it’s part of the Spanish football culture.

Good things however are mostly commented in Spanish, I heard myself saying bien many times along with other Spanish words.

I went to one game with an English speaking friend and then most of the game was commented in English, but also Swedish and Spanish. Sitting next to a lot of Spanish people affects your language.

Anyway, there is one word that I used in both Spanish and Swedish last night that sound the same, but the meaning is completely different. Ja in Swedish means yes, but ya in Spanish means enough. A bit confusing…

Mierda de partido..

Aarrgghh!! Odio cuando mi equipo pierde y lo odio mas cuando es por fallos del arbitro.

No, no soy arbitra pero hoy no vio dos manos y al final solo puso 3 min de tiempo adicional. Con todo que pasó durante el partido debería ser por lo menos 5…

Así que ya quedamos fuera de la copa del rey.. Que aburrido! Espero que ganen la Europa league y que terminen en top-4 de la liga.

¡Vamos mi Sevilla!

Sevilla – Málaga, un partido de otra categoría

Soy Sevillista desde 2007, mucho porque mi novio a ese tiempo ya lo era, pero también por muchas otras cosas. En 2010 vivía en Suecia con mi novio Sevillista (que es sueco) y fuimos a Málaga unos días para aprovechar el tiempo y además ir a un partido de Sevilla contra Málaga, en Málaga.

Cuando reservamos las entradas no sabíamos que la rivalidad entre estos dos equipos era tan fuerte. Reservamos todo en una página web sueca que ofrece viajes de fútbol. Llegamos a Málaga y recogimos las entradas y vimos que nuestras sillas estuvieron en tribuna. Muy bien!

Fuimos a Sevilla para pasar una noche allí visitando mi hermana y cuñado, y como mi cuñado trabaja al lado del estadio Sanchez Pizjuan (Sevilla FC), fuimos por allá. Cuando llegamos estuvo el autobús de Sevilla allí y de repente llegó un montón de gente y los jugadores. Jackpot! Vimos todo el equipo y sacamos fotos con algunos. Compramos camisetas y bufandas y el día siguiente volvimos a Málaga.

Yendo al estadio mucha gente nos dijeron cosas que no entendí. Mi novio no sabía nada de español, y mi español en 2010 era el castellano que te enseña en el colegio, sin frases hechas y acentos. Pero como más y más gente nos dijeron cosas y algunos nos miraban como fuéramos mierda nos cubrimos un poco. Yo puse una rebeca encima mi camiseta y mi novio tenía que esconder su bufanda.

Cuando estuvimos en el estadio no dijimos nada de Sevilla. Hablamos solo en sueco y cuando Sevilla marcó sus goles no podíamos decir nada. Sevilla ganó el partido y mi novio y yo volvimos muy alegres al hotel para cambiarnos y luego salir de nuevo, sin tener alguien diciéndonos palabrotas.

Una foto mía del partido en Málaga 2010

Hoy fui al partido entre Sevilla y Málaga, pero en Sevilla. Estuve muy agusto con la conciencia de poder animar a mi equipo sin problemas y ser una de las personas que diga palabrotas al otro equipo. Y ganamos otra vez.

El partido fue muy entretenido. Últimamente los partidos en casa han sido contra equipos pequeños y la verdad es que la gente no se anima mucho. Así que fue muy bien hoy porque todos estaban encima del partido, animando, cantando, diciendo palabrotas etc. Genial!

Foto de hoy de Orgullo de Nervion

First game of the year

I went to Sevilla FC’s first game of the year yesterday. It was good to be back, but oh, what a boring game… I think most of the players had a bit too much to eat over Christmas break, they were so slow and they played poorly, lost the ball, not seeing the opportunities etc. They won though, 1-0, against Celta de Vigo, but they have to play better than this… Sevilla FC is 4th in the league right now.

The game started at 6 pm, just around sunset, and with the dusky light all the bats came out. That is something that amazes me in Spain, we don’t have them (at least not visible), but here in Seville I usually see bats flying around. I was in a park in summer just around sunset and I walked a dog and in between the trees in the park the bats were flying. I’m not a big fan of them, so I walked away from the trees. They seem fearless and are flying quite close to you, too close for me to feel comfortable. So at the game my eyes were sometimes set on the sky, on the bats, and not on the ball.

I love being in the neighborhood around the stadium, I feel like home. Even if there isn’t a game, I see people with the Sevilla emblem on their clothes. Nice! I might look for an apartment over there next year…

 

Cheeky at work

Today I’m doing something I shouldn’t… We have uniforms at work consisting of a white t-shirt (preferably a polo with the company’s logo on it) and marine blue cardigan. Today Sevilla FC plays and I accidentally chose the wrong polo this morning… My boss supports the opposing team of Seville so if he sees it, he won’t like it…

GO SEVILLA FC!