Chile & Honduras

Guest post by Arch Bell of Yanks Abroad

The opening match for Group H in this year's World Cup between Chile and Honduras had been a long-time coming for fans of both nations.

Susan Potter

The last time Chile featured in the tournament was the 1998 edition in France; while Honduran fans have to trace back to 1982 to find record of their last World Cup appearance.

Years of anguish and waiting were finally put aside early Wednesday morning as the loyal followers of both teams filed into Takoba Bar & Restaurant in East Austin.

From the opening whistle, the number of Chile fans greatly outnumbered the Honduras fans, but that was not about deter Susan Potter and company who were decked out in Honduran shirts and with their faces painted in support of the 'Catrachos."

"My mom is from El Salvador and my father is from the US. I grew up in Mexico and then lived here in Austin before spending the last six years living in Honduras," said Potter who was decorated with blue stars and white paint on her face.

Potter was a loyal follower of Honduras during its World Cup qualifying campaign and attended nearly every CONCACAF match involving the Catrachos. She says that seeing her adopted homeland playing on the world's greatest stage is a dream come true.

"It's incredibly exciting to watch Honduras. We've been waiting for this day for a while. This is by far the most exciting sporting event. I went to a World Cup game in Dallas back in 1994 and I just loved the enthusiasm of having such a mix of nationalities at the game."

After spending six years away from the US, the rise in the popularity of soccer has pleasantly surprised the dual citizen who no longer has to search for friends willing to watch World Cup matches with her.

"There has been an incredible growth of soccer in this country. The last World Cup I watched here I didn't have a single friend wanting to watch with me and now everyone does... I can't even find a US national team jersey to buy. They're all sold out! I had to go out and buy a US women's team jersey," she laughed.

A Chilean goal in the first half was a letdown for Potter and the Honduran fans but just a few feet away, Chilean David Alvarez and 50 of his closest friends were jumping up and down and yelling at the top of their lungs. "CHI CHI CHI-LE LE LE!!!"

One of an estimated 500 Chileans living in Austin, Alvarez grew up 100 miles away from the capital of Santiago. His first word as a baby was, 'goal', a harbringer that soccer would always be part of his life.

However upon first arriving in Texas 20 years ago, Alvarez recalls that it was all but impossible to find soccer being played anywhere in town, but that now, soccer games can be found in abundance.

"Soccer has grown a lot in Austin in the 20 years I've been here," he said. "It used to be hard for me to find a place to play pickup games. Now you can find pickup games around town. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays the parks are all full!

"The immigrants are making a big impact with this. I think many years ago when immigrants first came to this country, they were hesitant to play because it really wasn't part of American culture so they did other sports to adapt. Now things are different. They are playing soccer and expressing themselves and you see it everywhere in the men's leagues, high schools and youth soccer."

Despite the uptick in local leagues and pickup games, Alvarez still wasn't satisfied and sought to continue soccer's growth here in Austin. Disillusioned with the lack of media attention the sport received both locally and nationally, the Chilean used his good standing with local community radio station KOOP and started a bilingual soccer-only radio program titled "Futbol En Vivo."

The show's mantra is to broadcast an informative soccer show from the heart of Central Texas to the world. It is just one of an ever-growing list of soccer-focused radio programs that are starting to pop up across the US.

"Soccer is not fully reflected in the media but we are changing that. I had a choice to do a radio program about politics or soccer and I decided to do soccer because it's what I like. I'm very happy with it... Soccer is really a big part of my life. My first date with my wife was the Brazil-Holland match at the 1994 World Cup!" he chuckled.

As Chile's first half goal stood up to give 'La Roja' its first World Cup victory since 1966, Alvarez led another round of chants that reverberated around Takoba while a chagrined Potter commiserated with the other Honduran fans.

Yet it was hard to feel any animosity between the two fans bases as a combined 40 years were finally put to rest early Wednesday morning and as everyone exited Takoba's to begin their day, smiles were found on all faces with the knowledge that the next World Cup match was just less than a week away.