Love of the sport on full display in exhibition game
A large crowd turns out to watch the matchup between the Guatemalans and the Daltonbased academy.
The love of soccer was on full display Wednesday night as fans packed both sides of Barron Stadium to watch Guatemala’s under-20 national team play an exhibition match against the North Georgia Soccer Academy.
A near-capacity crowd turned out to the event, which came about on short notice, and those in attendance, many of whom were partial to the Guatemalan side, were treated to a high-paced, exciting game as Guatemala came away with a 9-2 victory as it continued its exhibition tour in order to prepare for the 2023 U-20 World Cup in Indonesia.
Rome High boys head soccer coach Luis Goya, who played a big part in helping the rare event come to town, said it was a lot of work in a short amount of time but he was very proud of the way things turned out.
“They called me late last week and said they had a game in Chattanooga that had fallen through and asked if we could host a game in Rome,” said Goya. “With the support of our athletic director and Rome City Schools, we got it approved, and we were excited to be able to bring them here.
“We really didn’t know how big of a crowd to expect with just a few days notice, but after we announced it over the weekend, I had a lot of people and businesses calling and requesting info about tickets and everything else. We had around 4,500 people here tonight, and that is amazing to be able to host such a big event. This is the Guatemala national team that came to play here in Rome, and the people that came tonight really showed what soccer means to them. It really brought everyone together, and that is so good to see.”
In the game, Guatemala got out to a quick 2-0 lead with goals in the first seven minutes, but North Georgia, made up of post-high school players from across northwest Georgia, battled back and scored on a penalty kick taken by Fabian Rodriguez in the 13th minute to make it 2-1.
Guatemala added two more goals in the final 10 minutes of the first half to take a 4-1 lead into halftime. It proceeded to take full control of the game with an aggressive offensive attack early in the second half as the Guatemalans scored three more goals in the first 20 minutes of the half to take a 7-1 lead.
North Georgia scored its second goal in the 72nd minute as Gerardo Favela sent one in the back of the net, but Guatemala added two more goals in the 82nd and 83rd minute to push the final margin of victory to seven.
Goya said the game and atmosphere was incredible and showed the potential of what big soccer events could do if hosted in Rome in the future.
“It’s really overwhelming to me,” said Goya. “I never expected this kind of response and to see this many people here tonight. Now we have shown that we are able to host events like this, and it is something we would like to do again. The city of Rome needs this. To see all the people come out and watch an amazing soccer game was incredible.
“This is what I wanted to do when I took the Rome High job. I want to help change the culture and promote soccer in this area, not just for my team but for everyone. Soccer is big already here, but it is so big where I come from and I think we can make it that way here. Especially with the Hispanic population we have in this area, soccer is going to continue to grow.”