Real Madrid is in LA, too?
I knew that Real Madrid added the list as a number of UEFA clubs that were coming to US (alongside MU) for a tour. In a status I made about my disappointment for not attending LA Galaxy vs MU, a friend commented that Real Madrid was coming to San Diego to practice.
It turned out that they, after all, would be coming to UCLA instead. I was "meh" at first. Real Madrid was always my favorite team but I was skeptical by the idea of spotting it. My UCLA student friend, Bella, told me that Real Madrid would indeed be practicing for five days in UCLA. It was a private practice though, but they would have a photo/autograph session when they were on their way to the stadium from their locker, and vice versa.
It turned out that they, after all, would be coming to UCLA instead. I was "meh" at first. Real Madrid was always my favorite team but I was skeptical by the idea of spotting it. My UCLA student friend, Bella, told me that Real Madrid would indeed be practicing for five days in UCLA. It was a private practice though, but they would have a photo/autograph session when they were on their way to the stadium from their locker, and vice versa.
On Thursday night, after I ended the most rigorous class of the week, I randomly chatted with another friend of mine, Mirandy, and asked whether she was interested in seeing Real Madrid in UCLA. I expected nothing much from the conversation. I was prepared to hear a "no" from her like it was going to happen, but she took the topic seriously, up to the point she did a research about the schedule of the practice. So I was like "Okay, this is really happening. Imagine spotting all the Spanish players I have previously seen in World Cup matches a couple of weeks ago. imagine seeing them for real." Even though, well, Spain did poorly in the World Cup. They barely passed the preliminary round. However, I have been rooting for them for the past couple of years. Some of the Spanish players I grew to be familiar for the past couple of years with were a part of Real Madrid. Even some of the favorite players, such as Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos, and even my most favorite goalie/captain and the world's best one ever, Iker Casillas, was a part of the team. The idea of FINALLY seeing them in person after years of being acquainted in soccer was just mental.
At 10 pm, I struck another conversation with her before we really decided to go. I encouraged her to invite our guy friends who were a lot more into soccers than we girls are. Usually, guys were more informed about the players' whereabouts so they should be really helpful in locating the players. So Mirandy decided to invite Evan.
There were two practices in a day basically. The first practice was in the morning, starting at 10 am and ended at 12 pm. The second one started at 5 pm and ended two hours later. We decided we'd go to the morning one only, since we couldn't really hang out for the whole day since we had our own plans. So, I woke up at 8 in the morning. Mirandy and Evan arrived at my place half an hour later. They parked their car in my parking space and carpooled with me to UCLA. The traffic was horrible and then we realized we got caught in the rush hour traffic. We reached UCLA at 10 am. There was a bit of a parking problem at first. I parked in the visitor lot but apparently, in one of those unmarked spaces that visitors were not supposed to park. After I parked there, we went out to find the pay station and along the way, we found marked spaces not long from where I parked my car. So I decided to go back to my car and moved my car to the marked space, but ultimately, I found a nice, yellow parking ticket slipped in my wiper. We just got out of the car like less than 5 minutes ago and there was no one, literally, around. It was as if the ticket just fell from the sky.
Anyway, I parked my car to the designated area and paid for the whole day (who knew how long we were going to stay there). I called Bella to check where she was at. I told her we were coming to UCLA to spot Real Madrid the night before, and she was surprised by the sudden plan, but anyway, she agreed to meet up that very morning.
The Encounter with David Beckham's Surprise Appearance as a Bonus
When Mirandy, Evan, and I entered the UCLA grounds from the visitor lot, we found ourselves in the athletics area. I could hear whistles and I was just ecstatic to think whether it was the Real Madrid training. There was a clear, wide soccer field. At first we were thinking that maybe, just maybe, a group of people gathering at one corner of the field might be the Real Madrid players. But it was too impossible for an internationally renowned football club to practice unnoticed like this. We even spotted a group of people right adjacent to the field fence and were assured they might be fans of the club. As we went closer, we saw no signs of Real Madrid fans. No Real Madrid uniforms, and most of the people gathering at that spot happened to be teenagers. For a club as big and as internationally renowned as Real Madrid, there should be at least adult men spotted nearby.
Not long after that, Bella called. She said she just spotted the football club near another athletic field. So it's clear thet we were in the wrong field. As my friends and I hurried, we stopped by to ask a student who pointed the direction towards the athletic field. Then we came to a shaded spot near the locker room (not the athletic field), where security closed down the roadway for Real Madrid players to pass by using golf carts, back and forth from the stadium to the locker room. The crowd was dismissing, so it seemed we missed the guys as some people had their merchandises, Tshirts, and memorabilia signed already. Bella told us that they just passed and everybody just stampeded all the way to the fence to get a closer look at the players. However, our hope to see them didn't cease yet as they would be returning at 12 pm. So that would be one and a half hour from now.
In the mean time, we went into what I thought was the student center and sat the Jamba Juice for a good hour before we had to get back to the same shaded area at 11.20 pm. Hopefully we would get a good spot and timing to spot the players.
As we got back, there were a good amount of people at the same spot. Mirandy, Evan, and I quickly found ours right behind people who were right behind the fence. Not long afterwards, some golf carts started to pass by. Out of nowhere, some people behind us started to push us and the people in front of us against the fence, having their memorabilia ready in their hands. All of a sudden, our once-perfect spot was completely gone as people started to push and squeeze each other. Even worse, they were even much bigger than us. Things got even worse the actual players started to come.
My friends and I could tell they were here since people were getting more aggressive as they called out the players. So basically, the players arrived with the golf cart. Some of them went inside the locker immediately, leaving some eager fans disappointed. Some were still fit enough to give some fan service. One of the players I spotted (and I was familiar of) was Xabi Alonso. He's a midfielder playing for the Spain's national football team, and of course he was seen in the recent World Cup. When he got off the cart, he went to the far side of the fence to sign some memorabilia before he took off to the locker.
At this point, I almost could barely see the pathway in front of the fence. So whenever players arrived, my sight was completely blocked by built-sweaty-bodies in front of me and my friends. I could catch a glimpse of Carlo Anchelotti, Real Madrid coach in his black shirt and purple cap.
Another prominent sighting came from this other guy which I'm going to reveal in a bit. He was no player and he wore a dark polo shirt, the same kind that Anchelotti wore. People seemed to be really ecstatic by his arrival, shouting "Fernando! Por favor!" repeatedly. I asked Evan about this Fernando guy and he even had no idea. What was memorable from this encounter was, despite not knowing who he was, I was just eager to see that he was nice enough to come near where I was to take pictures and give signatures. Even Mirandy got his signature (note that up to this point, the three of us still had no idea who he was). Well, he got to be really famous at some point. So I didn't hesitate to take pictures of him either. At this point as well, the crowd got really overwhelming. Evan and Mirandy, who were initially standing next to mine, were nearly covered by the aggressive crowd that continued to pile up. Evan, who was still visible, told me that he would do a research about that Fernando guy.
Another prominent sighting came from this other guy which I'm going to reveal in a bit. He was no player and he wore a dark polo shirt, the same kind that Anchelotti wore. People seemed to be really ecstatic by his arrival, shouting "Fernando! Por favor!" repeatedly. I asked Evan about this Fernando guy and he even had no idea. What was memorable from this encounter was, despite not knowing who he was, I was just eager to see that he was nice enough to come near where I was to take pictures and give signatures. Even Mirandy got his signature (note that up to this point, the three of us still had no idea who he was). Well, he got to be really famous at some point. So I didn't hesitate to take pictures of him either. At this point as well, the crowd got really overwhelming. Evan and Mirandy, who were initially standing next to mine, were nearly covered by the aggressive crowd that continued to pile up. Evan, who was still visible, told me that he would do a research about that Fernando guy.
Later that day, we all learned that his name is Fernando Hierro is a soccer legend and currently serves as an assistant coach.
The next players include Gareth Bale, Pepe, Diego, and some others that I could barely see (including the younger players that apparently didn't receive as much attention as the more prominent ones). Bale's encounter also left a significant impression. At that moment, I barely recognized who Gareth Bale was, but judging from Evan's excitement to spot him as well as Bale's great reception by the crowd, he was for sure another Cristiano Ronaldo-like figure. Later that day, I learned that he was a midfielder. Bale was tall and lean, even when I didn't know who he was at that point, I was drawn to take pictures of him. He definitely carried the charisma that piled even more and more people. At this point, Evan and Mirandy were out of sight. Around me were sea of people with their hands extending out of the fence holding their memorabilia, waiting for Bale to sign them. Bale, like Hierro, came to our side and got to sign some memorabilia before he left to the other side. Evan was so disappointed since he already extended his paper out to be signed, but when he got SO CLOSE, an aggressive fan suddenly took his place and that fan, ended up getting signed instead of Evan.
Right in the feels. I feel you, Evan.
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Speaking of aggressiveness, yes, the fans were more aggressive than I thought. It was interesting to see guys' reactions when meeting their idols since so far, I've only seen girls meeting their idols, and we're talking about Kpop stars. Guys were more or less reacting like girls, with all the pushing, excitement, just minus the screaming. Guys shouted, not producing earsplitting "Oppa!!!" sounds. Guys were more aggressive physically. When Bale moved to another side of the fence, this guy in front of me just mindlessly pushed people away, me included. I ended up got knocked on the chest. It seemed like his eyes were locked on Bale while he completely disregarded his surrounding.
At one point, one of the guys started to shout. "Beckham!" I was like, dude, what are you talking about? Beckham didn't play for Madrid anymore. Then the crowd started to follow chanting David Beckham's name. At this point, the pathway was still out of my sight thanks to the huge, sweaty dudes that just kept piling up in front of me. Anyway, apparently it really was the David Beckham, who brought three (or four?) of his sons with him. He made a surprising appearance to oversee Real Madrid's practice that very day. I guess, we all picked a perfect day to see Real Madrid today, as we got to see Beckham. Who would expect that? UCLA is so lucky. Beckham, like the players and coaches, arrived with a golf cart. I wasn't sure if he got to sign some memorabilia but he was seen heading straight to the locker door with his sons, not before he waved back to the crowd. I only recognized Romeo, one of his sons that wore a soccer uniform with his name on his back.
At this point, Bella, who had been there with us yet completely absentminded about the soccer players, got hyped when Beckham arrived. She only knew Beckham out of all people we spotted today.
I must say though, I was actually really looking forward to seeing my all-time favorite goalie and captain, Iker Casillas. Catching a glimpse of him would really leave a very, very significant impression to me as I have been familiar with him since the first time I came to like soccer (2002). Not only that he contributed in Spain's victory for the past few years for his awesome saves (yeah, before he totally blew it on this year's World Cup, but STILL!). He totally took everyone's hearts when he emotionally cried when Spain won the World Cup four years ago, and also when he joyously lifted the cup. Anyway, apparently Iker did arrive in one of the golf carts, along with other remaining players, but I didn't get to see him until he got off and headed straight to the locker door. I initially recognized his vermillion uniform before Evan confirmed it to me. "Yep, that's Casillas." Right before I got excited, he disappeared behind the door.
So with that said, the first autograph/encounter session just wrapped up. No more golf carts were coming. All the players were inside the locker room. I noticed that Evan was still super bummed by not getting Bale's signature. So I suggested that we could come to the second round, which would take place at 5. It was 12 so we had around 5 hours to wait for the second round, and by saying second round, we really meant getting the best, closest spot as possible. Sadly, our phones might not last long for the second encounter. To save the battery and to make sure our second experience wasn't as disappointing (especially due to the low battery), Evan, Mirandy, and I decided to turn off our cellphones until 5 pm. Yep, let's see how long we could hold on to our lives without those devices. This dedication was one and only to make sure our experience would be paid off and we would be able to keep it through our devices.
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