Most of the students on the trip were not aware of the brilliant soccer experience that was to come, including Jennifer Edozie. Jennifer Edozie, sophomore political science and Spanish double-major, was one of the few students who had made their way across the Atlantic to the Iberian peninsula for summer programming.
“It was really like the best ever,” Edozie said. “I went with a group of 14 other students and honestly, going into it, I didn’t previously know any of the other students, but it didn’t even matter because we all really clicked immediately.”
It was Edozie’s first ever time in Europe. “It was a dream from the very start,” Edozie said. Edozie pointed to the amazing history around every corner of Madrid, the healthy food, the walkability of the cities and the amazing people she met in Spain as the highlights of the trip.
However, Edozie and her classmates’ time in Spain was enhanced even further beyond the beauty of Spain by rather fortunate timing. During the group’s time in the Spanish capital, the city’s pride and joy — Real Madrid — had the opportunity to break their record by winning a 15th Champion’s League Title.
“Going into [the final] the streets were absolutely insane,” Edozie said. “No one really drives too much in Madrid, however, insane traffic, insane just like walking traffic as well. … [The streets] were painted white with the [Real Madrid] jerseys.”
The game was across Europe in London’s famous Wembley stadium, yet Edozie described lines of 22,000 people waiting in line for tickets to watch the broadcast in Madrid’s home stadium, the Santiago Bernabeu. Because of the long lines, Edozie and her friends were unable to make it inside the famous stadium, but they were able to watch the game in a nearby pub.
“We waited in line for like two hours … to get into the pub,” Edozie said. “There are no seats, everyone’s standing up, everyone’s going around the place, but you’re just like eyes glued to the screen and watching everything.”
Madrid went on to win with two second-half goals to seal a historic 15th title and their sixth since 2010. The chaos of the night in Madrid, however, was just getting started for Edozie and the rest of the study abroad group.
“When the game ended, [there was] screaming, glasses breaking because we’re in the pub,” Edozie said. “Leaving on the streets, the cars that were driving, they were just blasting their horns over and over again … just out of excitement, everyone was singing down the streets.”
In the days to come, Edozie and a friend were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the championship parade.
“It was so hype,” Edozie said. “As people who are actually so distant from the team and the culture … it didn’t even matter and it didn’t even feel distant. … There’s definitely this insane traction you just can’t overlook.”
The Champions League Final wasn’t the only soccer culture shock of the summer in Spain. The European Championship, an international tournament similar to the World Cup but only for European teams, was held in Germany while Edozie and her group were still in Spain. Despite leaving before the semifinals and finals, both of which Spain would win to crown themselves the tournament’s only ever four-time winner, Edozie also felt the cultural impact this tournament had on the city of Madrid and the country as a whole.
“That culture just radiates through all of Spain, no matter where you are, and these are people who live, die and breathe football,” Edozie said.
Studying abroad always presents a unique opportunity to take in a new culture, but for many Americans, the impact that soccer has culturally on Europe and Spain, in particular, is just incomprehensible. Sports are big in the United States of course, but for many in Europe, “football” is life.
“Observing that culture is a unique thing,” Edozie said. “Treating the sport differently than it is here, that’s something fun as well.”
