Sunday 22nd of May, it has been one week since the Premier League has finished. We were all witnesses of one the craziest season in football which saw Leicester crowned champions. Three days have passed, Louis and myself, left England to land in Bolivia for our last part of the Arsenal Gap Year. And this Sunday it is the last home game of the local club in Cochabamba : Jorge Wilsterman.
We haven't even the time to adapt to our new environment, acclimatise to the altitude, knowing the kids we are going to work with that we have the possibility to see the Aviadores in their stadium. Since I know I was sent by Arsenal in this city I was following the team and realise they need only one point in that game to win the league !
Jorge Wilstermann is a club founded in 1949 and named by the aviator with the same name who was the first Bolivian commercial pilot - I love sometimes how clubs around the world take their name from - and died in a crash some years before. One of the most famous club in Bolivia with Universitario and Bolivar, but they haven't won the title since 2002. A while...
The Felix Capiles stadium is just a few "cuadras" from our house with an official capacity of 32'000 people. It goes without saying that so close to their expected title not any tickets would remain. Thanks to Jesper and Mads, our Danish volunteers colleagues who queued for hours and Dante, our boss, we got finally our precious tickets.
What is obvious in England is not always the case around the world. When Leicester played their last home game of the season every ticket holder was sure to get in the stadium with a seat number on the tickets which says where this die hard Leicester fan is going to watch his team with probably a more than decent view. Here, except in which stand you are going to watch your game, nothing is mentioned. So, my colleagues and I went three hours before the kick off and thousands of fans were already queuing under a warm and shiny sun for the game of the season.
Louis and I managed to find a seat on the top of the "Preferencias" stand on...the stairs. I have a such a feeling that the normal capacity of the stadium has been exceeded. Crowded is the firstname, even the food and drink sellers are struggling to go from one row to the other. Actually, the time before the game passed quite quickly so the interaction between people in the stand was a show in itself.
The game against Club Petrolero starts and after a few minutes we understand that the draw is a good result for both team. Long balls in the no-man's-land box, managers without any taste of risk, as I said, the show is clearly in the stands. Red smokes, songs from both behind the goal stands ultras groups, drums, trumpets, Ola are truly animating the game!
0:0.... To see a goal we need to come back next season...
If the game itself is disappointing, the stadium is ready to explode at the end and celebrate with their champions ! Trophy ceremony, laps around the stadium, we don't miss any second of this party. How lucky are we to see the local team winning the title the week we arrived ?
As the stadium gets empty we decide to leave as well to join the celebrations in the city center. We arrive at the Prado at the same time as the "one decker" bus with all the Wilster squad. The city is boiling, we finally leave the party in the middle of the night...