20th and 21st August - Exploring Concepcion and watching a football game
I kept it very mellow on the 20th and said goodbye to the group before they headed to the airport (about 4-minutes away from the Holiday Inn Express where we were staying). Then I went across the road to the mall with Gary to buy another football shirt (Liverpool FC, my boyhood team growing up in the UK, they are much cheaper buying them in Chile, than in the US). A guest for session 2, Rob, arrived in the afternoon from Chicago. We had a nice dinner of empanadas at a local restaurant.
On the 21st, Gary, Rob and myself headed out for a little explore around Concepcion and to watch a local football match. Unfortunately Concepcion is still an absolute mess in the city center from the riots of 2019. There were burnt out buildings, boarded up and smashed windows, graffiti everywhere. It was pretty depressing.
What was not depressing was the football match we went to see at the Estadio Municipal, home of Deportes Concepcion (I had bought one of their shirts at the start of the trip). They were playing the top side San Marcos de Arica, the top side in the Chilean 3rd division. It was a fun game, with the Deportes captain being sent off after only 5 minutes, brawls, a missed penalty and an angry but passionate local crowd. Unfortunately the local team lost 0 -1, but still a great game. VIP tickets were only $15 a seat. A bargain!
Gary headed back to the US that afternoon and then it was just Rob and myself traveling up to Las Trancas on the 22nd, for the start of session 2.....
Plaza Peru, not much happening before noon on a Sunday....
The Catedral near the Plaza de la Independencia was covered in graffiti and all barred up. The Plaza was also surrounded by wooden hoardings, it was all a very sad state of affairs and quite depressing....
Tribunales de Justicia (courthouse) was also covered in graffiti..... I don't think I have much desire to spend more time in Concepcion, which is a real shame as this is the first time I've not enjoyed visiting a local city during one of our trips.
This was definitely worth it though!
Deportes Concepcion's newest greatest fans, Gary and Rob!
I always try and buy a local football shirt as a souvenir during my trips, the more obscure the better. Deportes Concepcion are one of 3 professional football teams in Concepcion and play in the Chilean 3rd division. They play at the 30,000 Estadio Ester Roa and that ground is shared with the two other Concepcion teams I believe.
I had bought this shirt before session 1 started, not know anything about the team and as luck would have it, they had a home game scheduled at the end of session 1.
Don't worry, we got there early and there were a lot more people than this.
The two teams line up, San Marcos de Arica is in the light blue and Deportes Concepcion, in the lilac.
Handshakes before kickoff.
Let's go the mighty Lilacs!
Time for some handbags! A little scuffle as the captain of Deportes was sent off. Not sure exactly what he did, but it fired up both sides. Straight red after only 5 minutes. Whoops!
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Deportes were down to 10-men, but they rallied and were the more aggressive team. After 15-minutes they won a penalty! Unfortunately the striker skyed it over the bar! Chance gone.....
Missed by a mile, terrible penalty!
Then in injury time at the end of the first half, San Marcos had a corner which Deportes failed to clear and a San Marcos player slotted it into the lower corner, against the run of play. Deportes ran themselves ragged in the second half and were the better team, but ultimately failed to score and lost the game 0-1.
A very entertaining game and for a 3rd division game, the standard was pretty high and the local crowd (estimate at 8,000) made a lot of noise and showed a lot of passion. For $15 for a VIP (very comfy seat, out of the sun), this game was awesome. Strongly recommend!
That's it for session 1. Let me know if you'd like a re-cap of session 2 as well....
- Matt