Condor 1, Santos FC 0

I ran into the local soccer coach on the street last week, and he started complaining to me about how little support he gets from the club's leadership.

I thought this was a little weird, since I'm not used to coaches throwing their bosses under the bus without them being tossed out of said bus very shortly after. Then I heard him making the same comments on the local radio station and thought "man, I wish I covered someone this candid when I was working at the Daily."

He had scheduled many scrimmages to get his team ready for the six-game championship. Apparently, the buses never showed up twice and two other games were canceled one day before they were supposed to be played. They ended up having two tune-ups, and even I could tell that that wasn't nearly enough.

They were also supposed to get new jerseys this year. But they weren't ready in time, so they had to wear last year's.

So, out of form and wearing hand-me-downs, they took whatever they could get.

And about eight minutes into the game, they were handed a gift from Santos on a miscommunication between the goalie and the defender that left a wide-open chance that even I probably couldn't mess up. Miller Castro scored for Arenillas (Should one be wary of people with two last names?)

Despite having the early lead, it was clear that Condor could use some more practice time. The opposition dominated the first 35 minutes of the game, controlling the ball and having many quality scoring opportunities. Luckily for Condor, Santos couldn't finish anything.

In the second half, Condor started to gets itself together, so much so that the radio announcer said Condor "looked like a strong team." Despite losing both of its starting forwards (one to penalties and the other to injury), Condor was able to maintain pressure for the entire second half. But as is the case with second-string players in the lowest level of Ecuadorian football on a team that can't afford to pay for buses to exhibition games, they aren't very good at putting the ball in the net. And despite at least five breakaways, Condor couldn't put the biscuit in the basket.

It might not have been pretty, but when six games define your season, you'll take a win any way you can get it.

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Nuggets

• At one point in the game, a player was frustrated at a no-call by the official. In anger, he picked up the ball and spiked it into the ground instead of passing it to the goalie for the goal kick.

Nothing happened to this player. A gesture that would be grounds for ejection or at least a penalty in any sport in the States went unnoticed.

• Santos doesn't have a home field to play on in El Guabo. Instead, they have to play their home games in Pasaje, half an hour away, because of an argument between the club president and the local soccer federation about field maintenance. The club issue showed no restraint bashing the soccer federation during a halftime interview.

• When a player actually gets injured and carried off the field, all of the kids in the stands flock to that part of the fence to gawk at the wounds.

It is very common in soccer for players to fake injuries. So they are typically carried off the field, lay there for a few seconds and then get up and continue playing as if nothing happened. But when they continue to lie down for more than ten seconds, then they might actually be hurt.

The kids knew this and waited a few seconds to see if he would get up. He didn't, at least not right away. And then the children swarmed.

• The radio announcer used a phrase "Hopefully the dessert doesn't weight him down too much." I haven't had the chance to ask to clarify this phrase, but I imagine it has something to do with the player being out of shape.

Espero que el postre no pese mucho.

• One of the radio guys was walking to do his postgame interview with the coach when he realized that his recorder battery was nearly dead. He took the battery out and asked a little kid who was following him around to get a big rock. He proceeded to pound the battery with the rock and put the batteries back in the recorder.

This can't be good for the environment, can it?

This can't be an acceptable way to extend battery life, can it?

• There is a notion around here that if you drink cold water when you are really hot that you will develop a sore throat or flu. So instead of swallowing the water, the soccer players just put some in their mouth and spit it back out.

• Journalistic neutrality doesn't exist here. In fact, I think the correspondent for one of the big papars in the area (not AREvista) was the most riled up of any of the fans in attendance. In reaction to one missed call (in his opinion), he stood up from his seat on the top row of the bleachers, stormed down the steps to the gate, and started shaking the fence while insulting the ref.

• Estoperoles - spikes or cleats