World Cup’s Passion, Pride Fill Rose Bowl
Throngs of giddy soccer fans turned the Rose Bowl on Saturday into a sea of curly blond wigs, flapping flags and World Cup-mania as the world’s most popular sporting contest arrived in Southern California.
The game itself featured the Colombian and Romanian national teams--but much of the action was in the stands and on the streets: wig-wearing people paying tribute to the flowing locks of Colombia midfielder Carlos Valderrama; national colors painted on faces and flown on flags; drums pounding, horns blowing, celebrants hopping in pregame victory dances.
The Colombian fans greatly outnumbered the Romanians, but New York taxi driver Vladimir Moraru, who emigrated from Romania, remarked: “Don’t forget that the ball is still round for both sides.”
Moraru was proven correct as the Romanians defeated the favored Colombian team, 3-1. Throughout the hard-fought contest, fans tried to create an advantage with their cheers.
“Hagi! Hagi! Hagi!” the Romanians shouted, chanting the name of their star player, Gheorghe Hagi.
“Asprilla! Asprilla! Asprilla!” the Colombians shot back with the name of one of their stars, Faustino Asprilla.
The name of Gov. Pete Wilson, however, prompted a chorus of boos when he marched to the center of the field during opening ceremonies. From the moment Wilson was introduced, all the way through his three-minute speech, the mostly Latino audience jeered him for past comments blaming illegal immigrants for many of the state’s problems. When Wilson left the field, he faced a sea of thumbs-down gestures.
“We booed Wilson because he is against all Latinos, not just the illegales ,” said Marta Ceron, a spectator who is originally from Colombia. “He wants to take away all of our rights.”
The 35-minute opening ceremony featured an entrance by Southern Californians representing each of the 24 countries competing in the World Cup. Nell Carter sang the national anthem while four jets flew overhead and about 100 Marines unfurled a huge American flag that covered about one-third of the field.
As a grand finale, Mike Fox, a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic soccer team, placed the World Cup trophy on a pedestal and it was lifted, like a rocket ship, about 20 feet in the air. Meanwhile, the field was filled with children in multicolored soccer outfits and adults from across the world, waving the flags of their countries.
Reflecting the international flair of the day, announcements outside the Rose Bowl came in several languages. The message was the same: Welcome to the world’s largest sporting event--no weapons allowed inside.
Police were bracing for the worst--patting down fans as they entered and searching packages left and right--but officials reported no major incidents. Attendance was a near-capacity 91,856--but tickets were readily available at face value before the game.
When the game began, tickets with $75 face value were going for $20.
More than 145 teams have spent the last year and a half qualifying for the quadrennial gathering, regarded as the largest single sporting event in the world. The two dozen qualifying teams are playing 52 games in nine cities over the next four weeks.
The Rose Bowl underwent a $3-million face lift for the games. Today, Sweden will meet Cameroon at 4:30 p.m. in Pasadena. On Wednesday, the United States will take on Colombia.
Those who entered the stadium Saturday ran the gamut from soccer fanatics to those who just wanted to witness opening day.
“I’m not a soccer fan,” acknowledged George Zorapapel, a Romanian emigre who now lives in Monrovia. “I just came because this is such an important event and I wanted once in my life to see a game like this.”
Zorapapel was the exception. Most were fierce partisans and die-hard soccer enthusiasts--like Francisco Rivera, 31, of Bogota.
Soccer--and Colombia--pulsed through his veins.
A blond wig atop his head and the Colombian colors painted on his face, Rivera beat on a drum from the nosebleed seats and declared: “I feel like I’m in my own country. All my Colombian brothers are here.”
There were Mexicans, Bolivians and a dozen other countrymen too, and they joined the revelry even though they did not have a team on the field.
But the most vocal ones of all were from Colombia.
Leading them on was the mascot for the Colombian team, a man dressed in a yellow, blue and red bird outfit. He had a soccer ball shaved into the back of his head.
“Soccer gives us a sense of identity and solidarity,” he said, flapping his wings as firecrackers exploded overhead during the opening ceremony.
Romanian Danny Taut held one corner of a Gargantuan Romanian flag, trying to ignore the Colombians cutting a large hole in the heart of a nearby Romanian banner.
But the Romanians got their revenge at the end.
When Romania scored its final goal with two minutes left in the game, Ingrid Martinez, 25, a Bogota native who lives in Downey, put her head in her lap.
“I think I’m going to start crying any minute,” she said. “Oh my God, this is so depressing.”
Her brother, Steve, was already sobbing into his Colombian flag, his blond wig still atop his head.
After the game, Romanians sang as they marched back to their vehicles triumphantly. “I’m very happy and I’m proud to be a Romanian,” said Petruza Florina, 18, one of 250 honor students from Romania who attended the spectacle. As soon as time ran out, sheriff’s deputies in riot gear stood shoulder to shoulder around the field. But neither the victorious fans nor the dejected ones attempted to break through.
A sign hanging near the scoreboard indicated just how serious this game was: “Colombia--I Love You Like My Mother.”
That sort of intensity was tough for some to grasp.
Maryanne Vecchione of La Habra Heights plays soccer at Cal Poly Pomona and shelled out big bucks for her ticket. But she was a little more subdued than the rest.
“I’m here today but I won’t be here tomorrow,” she said. “Father’s Day is more important than this.”
Nearby, in Old Town Pasadena, emotions were not quite as intense. Afternoon business was down slightly at the trendy shops and restaurants and the talk of the day centered on the drama involving an American sports hero.
Around the soccer field, though, O.J. Simpson was already old news.
Fernando Velez, a 39-year-old electrician who emigrated from Colombia 12 years ago, came to Pasadena with 14 friends who play for an amateur soccer club in Flushing, N.Y.
Standing in the sweltering heat, Velez had yellow paint dripping from his eyebrows, mixing with the blue on his ears and the red on the throat.
“Americans have other games--football, basketball,” Velez said. “These North Americans, they like a lot of action. We have a different philosophy. With soccer, it’s more tactics.”
For Velez, the game also means national pride.
“Our country isn’t really powerful but with football, we have power, we can win,” said Velez, his eyes lighting up. “Our ambassadors are these players. Americans think we are a country of vices. But soccer gives us a good name.”
Asked if the Colombians will reach the finals, Velez put his hands together in a prayerful pose and stared at the sky.
“Then I can die in peace,” he said.
Times Staff Writers Bill Dwyre, Ann O’Neill, Bettina Boxall, John Hurst, Susan Moffat and Patrick J. McDonnell contributed to this story.
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