Xerxes' Errata

In case some of you have missed it, the FIFA Under-20 World Cup is happening right now here in Canada in Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal. Most of the marquee games are on CBC and the rest are on either CBC Country Canada, or Gol-TV (only if you have digital cable or satellite).

But, if you can still find tickets available, I strongly encourage you to go see a game or two live like I did on Sunday at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby. I say that because the atmosphere at soccer matches is wholly different than that at football game or hockey games (though those are electrifying and entertaining as well). Because its an international tournament, you see fans from all over the world all with different ways to cheer for their favourite team.

For example, take this Spanish fan:


That, and the football was good too. The first match of the double header was Jordan v. Zambia which everyone there was expecting to be a snoozer but it was surprisingly entertaining with good play and some dubious refereeing as a Jordanian player was mysteriously injured and managed to get a Zambian player sent off becuase of it.

And what made that game extra special was a group of Zambian ex-pats in the rows behind me who were constantly singing and chanting and energizing the crowd with their infectious chants and songs. As an example, I submit the following video.

[youtube width=425 height=350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvGdigsGFUc[/youtube]

And that was during half-time.

The second game on tap was the game everyone wanted to see; Spain v. Uruguay. As you can see Swangard was totally packed.




And it was a good one too. Where the first game was makred by poor finishing and sloppy passing, the second was filled with mazy runs, crisp passes, and stunning goals. And keep an eye out for a Spaniard named Diego Capel. This kid was burning up the left wing all day and scored a brilliant equalizer that was a thing of beauty.

In the end it was great way to spend Canada day.