The World Game - Latin America
A favourite part of my travels is noticing the imprint of the world game.
Anything classifies as a football pitch. Narrow passages spark creative games. All walls are goals. If an object moves, a rock or shoe, it clearly is a ball.
Detours need to be taken to not disturb street matches. Turn a corner and you might find yourself in the middle of a game.
The more remote I go, the deeper love I see for football.
Detours need to be taken to not disturb street matches. Turn a corner and you might find yourself in the middle of a game.
The more remote I go, the deeper love I see for football.
San Martín de Amacayacu is an indigenous village along the Amazon River in Colombia. Deep in the jungle, it is accessible only by hiking or boat.
The local football pitch sits in the village centre. Matches play all day. People from the town stop by to watch until the power shuts off at 10 PM.
Armila is a Guna village in the San Blas Islands. Here, the Darien Jungle meets the river and the sea. Arriving by boat needs to synchronise with the waves. You must tactically beach the boat and jump out before it turns and capsizes on the sand. After this, pull the boat through the crashing waves towards the rushing river mouth. Once there, somehow hop back into the tipping boat to crossover to the village.
Everything in Armila stops if Barcelona or Madrid are playing. Record numbers surround one phone illegally steaming the game on Starlink. A place where wooden cayucos are used for transport, you need to know which team you support.
Armila’s pitches are raw and beautiful. The grass pitch has the backdrop of the Darien Jungle’s mountains. Bugs feast on the players and boundary-side horses. The grass rises high above the ankles. Perfect coverage for cheeky hacks in these physical matches.
The kids claim the beach. Washed-up trash lines the boundary. The kids are covered head-to-toe in sand. The sounds of them playing and laughing is mixed with the waves and white wash. They dunk in and out of the water when it gets too hot.
Football celebrations are their own language. In Caledonia, another Guna village, kids communicate with you solely through Ronaldo or Mbappe imitations. A runway is cleared for the person who can perform the best ‘Siuuu’.
These international matches are introducing me to new ways to enjoy football.
Are we sure we’re playing football if the grass is below our knees?
Is it a proper match if we’re not all barefoot?
Do we only count goals if you do a Ronaldo ‘Siuuu’?
Enamoured by the love of the World Game in Latin America, I included a Caledonia penalty shootout in my Guna Yala Postcard Pack.
All profits from this set go to resourcing the Caledonia dance school.
You can buy it individually for $4 or the full set for $19.99.
