Soccer here is popular... hugely popular. And what is perhaps comparable to the Superbowl for the U.S., the World Cup for Latin America is to be taken very seriously. So, when Costa Rica came to Panama to play in an early round World Cup qualifying match, people (my friends) went nuts, as usual.
Here, there is no pre-game announcement directing the crowds of spectators to be respectful and show sportsmanship... oh no, there's none of that. People boo after the opposing team's national anthem, people throw things (cups, fist fulls of ice, paper, beer) at fans of the other team, people here take insulting someone to another level (which involves their mother, how much she weighs, what she looks like and what she does for extracurricular activities). Fans are for the most part separated for these reasons.
The number one thing that I learned from being at this game: when Panama scores a goal, you toss your beer. You will get soaked, so do not bring anything electronic or valuable. Just, do it... throw your beer. And considering that you can buy a "Cooler Pack" of 40 beers at once for a cool 20 bucks, it's not wasteful to do so. By the time I got home after the game, I was sticky, my hair was crunchy and we all smelled to high heaven from the beer showers.
It was amazing though, Panama tied Costa Rica 2-2 and it was incredibly exciting. We're planning to attend the next game in March against Honduras and maybe this time I'll pack an umbrella.
^This is the section of crazy super fans... they coordinate their signs, it's impressive.
Here's the highlight video from the news. NOTICE: the aforementioned flying beer.
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