Day 10

Morning - Ricardo and Leo, the administrators of Premier Soccer Tours and organizers of the Brown team's trip, are both from Rosario. Leo grew up playing for Newell Old Boys, one of Rosario's two largest and most famous clubs, now known for being the club where Leonel Messi rose to fame. On the morning of Day 10, Leo showed the team the youth training academy, where they saw a group of six year-olds who could easily demolish any U-18 team in the U.S. Incidentally, these were the fields where Lionel Messi first played. There is a popular Mastercard commercial that features footage of a young Messi on the fields:



Needless to say, Leo was beaming with excitement as he showed the Brown players around the club. A little later, he arranged for the team to visit a discount jersey store, where they could pick up some inexpensive replicas. Perhaps by coincidence, the store only sold Newell Old Boys attire.

Afternoon - Later that day, the team headed to a local restaurant/bar to watch the Brazil-Argentina World Cup qualifier. Leo and Ricardo had to pull some strings to get a group of 25 Americans into the incredibly packed facility, but they somehow managed to do so. The team took in the match with a roomful of Argentines whose very well being--and that of their friends, families, and loved ones--seemed to depend on the outcome of the match. They oohed and aahed every time Messi touched the ball, and seemed totally perplexed any time he lost it. In the end the game ended in a 0-0 draw, with most local witnesses agreeing that Argentina should have won.

After the game, the team loaded back onto the bus and returned to the hotel to prepare for their final game of the trip, against the Newell Old Boys reserves. It remains to be seen which team Leo will cheer for.