The Real Football

I just got back from one of the coolest experiences of my life.
Spain's national soccer team, always talented, but never seems to realize that talent. They made it into the quarterfinals of the Eurocopa with ease only to run into Italy. A team that they hadn't beaten in a competitive game in 88 years.
Well me and my friends managed to watch this game with a bunch of Spanish soccer crazies, which seems to be about the whole city. And something magical happened, Spain dominated the time of possession, their passes were crisp and their chances were numerous... but they just could not put Italy away, all through the game and into extra time the game remained 0-0, Two great saves by Casillas the Spanish goalie kept the Spaniards even with the Italians but as Spain desperately tried to score before time ran out, it was obvious to everyone in the bar what was coming...
penalty kicks
possibly one of the most dumb yet exciting ways to end a soccer game.
The only thing about these kicks was that Spain was going to kick against arguably the best goalie in the world; Buffon.

A whole head taller than Casillas, Buffon has incredible reach and quickness, but when Spain scored the first PK the place erupted with a feeling of relief. Italy followed up with their own score and Spain scored their second PK. Then things got interesting when Casillas saved the 2nd Italy PK. The third Spanish kicker, named Marcos Senna, the only black player on Spain's team, whom the fans in the bar oddly called negro (which is the color black in spanish), scored the third Spain goal to put them up 3-1. Italy then scored to bring it back to 3-2, and then Spain's shot was blocked, which reminded me that this was Buffon, the hero of the '06 World Cup who helped Italy beat France in a PK shootout. Just when it seemed like the momentum was going to shift back to the Italians for good, Casillas saved another! At this point the place was going wild and when Fabregas came in and made the final PK to win it was mayhem.
It was probably the most exciting soccer game I have ever watched, partly because it was such a huge win but also because of the atmosphere of the bar. A bunch of tortured Spain fans finally got their vengeance by winning the big game, and they now need just two more to win the Eurocup for the first time in a long time.
Even as I sit up here in my room writing this more than an hour after it ended, People are still driving by honking their horns and partying it up in the streets.

I love sports.