Top Ten Things You Should Know When Watching the EuroCup in Guardamar

Top Ten Things You Should Know When Watching the EuroCup in Guardamar:

1. There are two popular spots you could watch the games: on the beach or along the restaurant row behind the main park. The beach is nice because you get a nice sea breeze as you sweat and stress. However, it is not ideal for those who don’t have 20/20 vision, for the “big” screen is actually quite small and pixilated. The restaurant row has many big screen televisions to choose from. However, you should get there early to reserve a seat.

2.  Unlike watching sport matches in America, where the objective is to be as loud and obnoxious as possible, the objective in Spain is to keep your eyeballs glued to the screen and to smoke nonstop to relieve stress. You will be able to tell when a match is close when you see clouds of smoke in the air.

3.   If you’re Asian and cheer for the Spain, people will randomly take pictures of you.

4. If you’re not spirited enough, as in not wearing a jersey and/or not painted with the Spanish flag, strangers will have no problem with chasing you trying to paint on you.

5.  Fútbol matches are exponentially more stressful to watch than a typical American Football game, for the momentum is constant (except for halftime), and the action is never ending. If you have high blood pressure, you might want to consider closing your eyes for 75% of the game.

6. The Spanish have a lot of trust in their team. When the other team is near their goal, most do not flinch because they just know their team will step up their defense. You will be able to point out the Americans in the crowd just by the way they hide under their seats and/or by the volume of their painful screams

7. It will be hard to de-Americanize yourself and not flinch at every play. You might need to bring a pillow to scream into just so you don’t make a fool out of yourself.

8. GO TO THE BATHROOM DURING HALFTIME.

9. Try to learn 1-2 lines of the EuroCup theme song so that you can sing along with the crowd when you win a match.

10.  Don’t feel bad for cheering harder for Spain than you ever did for any American team.  It’s natural. 


-Cynthia Bathgate