Sunday, July 26, 2015

FIFA Women's World Cup Final - Vancouver, Canada

On Tuesday morning I opened up an email from my friend Anna’s Dad, Mr. Buist. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read that on Friday it was possible that we would be leaving for the Women’s World Cup Final. To be honest, I kind of doubted that it would even happen. I didn’t want to get my hopes up too soon. But sure enough, when I arrived to their house on Thursday, I discovered that both the game tickets and the plane tickets had been purchased. I couldn’t believe they were including me on this! We headed to the airport on Friday morning to begin the day long journey to get to Vancouver, Canada where the Final was being held.




On Saturday it was the 4th of July, so surprisingly we drove back to the United States to celebrate. The Buists have some old friends in Washington so we were fortunate enough to have a place to celebrate the 4th.
On Sunday, it was game day. We took the skytrain into the city about 5 hours before the game was to begin and then followed the crowd. We didn’t want to enter the stadium that early so we found a busy tent set up for the World Cup. It was filled with US fans along with a few Japan fans. A band played for awhile, and games and food were available. Cheers and shouts often spread through the room at random moments. At one point a steady cheer for Japan broke out, but within seconds the US fans had joined and taken over. The Japan fans were hopelessly outnumbered and didn’t even try to compete. Shortly after we headed towards the ginormous stadium with the growing crowd and got in line. It took us about 30 minutes to get to the front, and while waiting, random bursts of cheers would break out. After our tickets had been scanned, Anna and I did a little happy dance - we were so excited!



Our seats were in the upper of two decks, right in the middle. They were perfect! With 30 minutes before the game was to begin, we had plenty of time to take pictures and watch the teams warm up. Our faces were painted, we wore jerseys and hats, but we still felt underdressed compared to some fans!



The game got off to an exciting start. I admit I didn’t really expect anything to happen for a little while. In the third minute the first goal was scored by the US Women. The crowd went insane! We were all screaming and jumping up and down! With every goal that was scored, Mr. Buist would jump up and down our row, then run past everyone giving them high fives. His excitement never died down. By the end of the first half you could see the desperation beginning to form on the faces of the Japanese. I couldn’t believe that I was present for such an exciting game!


I had several amateur commentaries and opinions available throughout the game, between Mr. Buist and the other viewers surrounding me. Chants broke out every so often and a few failed waves were attempted. My favorite cheer was when “I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN” thundered through the stadium. The chants would build and grow until only screams echoed through the stands. Goal after goal was scored, and every once in a while the Japanese were lucky enough to slip one in. By the second half we were confident that the US had the game, but we still celebrated just as loud with every goal.



By the end of the game, our voices were hoarse and our smile were big. I still can’t believe that I had the amazing opportunity to go to this game, and especially with these people. Thank you so much to the Buists!



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