South American football came to The Hague last night with a bang. A shame it clashed with Holland playing at home and live on the television, but the 6,000 or so supporters following Ecuador, Chile, Peru and Columbia were amazing. From 17:00 they were outside the stadium singing and dancing, a real festival of noise and colour.

The fans enjoy a party

Inside the stadium the noise was deafening; All four sets of supporters mixed in together and having one hell of a party. Have to say, I was so impressed with the following in the stadium.

The first match up was Ecuador v Chile. It was a tight affair, but for the first twenty minutes, Peru had the upper hand. They were the more forceful of the teams, pushing forward and only some tough last minute tackles kept their strikers at bay.

The game turned on its head when Ecuador was awarded a penalty; only for Maximo Banguera in the Peru goal to make a fine save down low to his right. After that miss, Ecuador turned the tables and pushed hard to get the lead, only to be met with the same resistance they had offered earlier.

Ecuador's Pablo Palacios tries to break through

The second half was a bit slower but with Ecuador being the more dominant. It was during the second half that the penalty hero for Peru made his claim for man of the match stronger as he defied whatever the Ecuador forwards could throw at him, including several brave saves diving at the feet of players.

The game ended 0-0 which was a fare result. In the stands the winners of the noisiest fans went to the Peruvians, amazing to see and hear.

He second match was between Chile and Columbia, and what a superb game it was from start to finish. With both teams backed by boisterous support the football quality matched it. Chile got off to a flyer and went ahead after six minutes. A free kick beating the keeper, David Ospina with pace and accuracy into the top corner out of his reach.

The Columbian keeper David Ospina beaten by a stunning free kick

Chile’s midfielder Alexis Sanchez became the man to watch, his pace and touch was excellent.

Chile got a second goal half way through the first half after a through ball reached Jean Beausejour in space; he took his time before calmly placing the ball into the back of the net, 2-0.

After going two goals behind, Columbia began a stirring fight back, they quickened their tempo and moved the ball around with some panache. They threatened a lot but had no final knockout punch to do the damage they needed.

Tough tackling was one of the major highlights of the night

The second half was a classic game of counter attack, neither team allowing the other to settle on the ball. There were plenty of hefty challenges going in, but the nice thing to see was the fact that there was no overacting by the person just fouled. Every player just got up and carried on as though nothing had happened, that really made a nice change to see; the players being men and not pampered cotton wool buds.

Many chances were not taken by both sets of strikers, many long range efforts, but very few causing the goalkeepers much trouble. Right up until the final whistle Columbia drove forward at the Chilean back-line, only to be halted again by some great defending.

Great defense block by Chile's Gonzalo Jara on Hugo Rodallega

On balance 2-0 for Chile seemed a bit harsh on the Columbians. Both played with passion and heart, only difference was Chile managed to take two of their chances.

Considering this was a friendly international match, I was highly surprised by the effort and entertainment involved, whereas normally these type of games end in boring  stalemates and no action, so well done to those players who were obviously playing with pride in their hearts.

I would really like to see teams like this come to The Hague again. It was so enjoyable, a real football party.

Text and photo’s by Neal Mcclimon
neal@thehagueonline.com
www.itpphotography.com

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