(Pre) World Cup FEVER!!

The game!
Fred (from BYU lives with me and my host family) and I at the game
Italians getting roudy
Mexican fans
Italian fans
The stadium

So as most everyone in the world should know by now. The 2010 World Cup is going on in South Africa. Since we are in "football" (In the US its soccer) crazy Europe. I couldn't turn down going to a World Cup warm-up Friendly match between defending World Cup champions: Italy and our neighor to the south: Mexico. It was a great day for futbol, the stadium was packed and the fans were intense! The game didn't turn out as expected: Mexico ended up winning 2-1.

Nevertheless, It was a great precursor/introduction to world-class football and helped prepare us for the many games and hours we spend now watching the Beautiful Game. Unfortunately, Belgium seems to be one of the least soccer-crazy countries and they aren't putting on any fanzones, big screens, or World Cup parties. Likely in part because their own team didn't make it. But it is still glorious being in Europe, watching the games in the afternoon/evening rather than in the early morning as everyone in the US must.