Football: Fans, Tickets & Where to Watch It
South Americans are passionate about their football - a lot more passionate than Europeans I believe. Working as a travel consultant, a lot of clients have asked me to book football tickets for them, or asked where was best to watch a footie match in a particular country. Here’s some advice on football in South America.
If at all possible, the top football attraction in South America is the Copa America, which is Latin America’s twice yearly (normally it’s every two years anyway) football competion (though USA normally participates also). In 2007 the Copa America was held in Venezuela, and what a shambles it was in terms of organisation. For some reason, all the tickets were sold via Brazil, and booking anything was almost impossible. I had three clients that anted to book Copa America football tours, but I couldn’t do it for them, as te whole event was planned incompetently.
Hopefully, the next Copa America will be better planned - I believe it will be held in 2011 in Argentina - a long time to wait, but it will almost certainly be worth it. If you want to book a Copa America tour, I’d suggest booking through a Latin America travel specialist tour operator rather than a football specialist tour operator (as the latter is unlikely to know anything about Argentina.)
So if you can’t wait until the next Copa America, where is great for watching football matches in South America? In reality, the entire continent is passionate about football, and the atmosphere in any large stadium will be quite amazing. To witness the highest level of skill, you need to head to either Brazil or Argentina - where there are many famous football teams and stadiums. In Buenos Aires, River Plate and Boca Juniors are the two biggest teams - River Plate’s stadium is biggest, but Boca’s stands are closer to the pitch, and as such the atmosphere slightly wilder there.
Argentina - Buenos Aires. Silly photo I know.
Brazil’s biggest and best football stadium is in Rio de Janeiro - the Maracana is home to Flamengo, Fluminense and Botafogo. Needless to say, the derby games have the best atmosphere. Certainly one of the best places to watch football in South America is at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
So how do you go about booking a football ticket in South America? Simple really - if you’re booking hotels and accommodation in advance, simply ask your hotel to book a ticket for you in addition. If you’re just backpacking, and not booking any hotels in advance, you should find that hostals can often arrange a ticket for you (in somewhere like Rio or Buenos Aires especially) - maybe sound them out first.
Here’s a few more football fan photos to get you in the mood for a trip to a match. Some of the girls are bautiful -and they know it!
Ecuador - Quito.
Brazil - Rio.