
Photo
by: Greg Wolf
A
player of team Talabre (in purple) keeps the
ball from two players of team Palestino (in orange) in Sunday's
finals. Talabre, ranked fourth in the league, defeated fifth
ranked Palestino.
Passing
the Cup
Sundays
in San Pedro, the sandy soccer field comes alive-whistles
blow, players run amidst the dust, and spectators cheer from
the sidelines.
Soccer
for this small desert town in northern Chile is a respite
away from the responsibilities and trifles of daily life.
As
Dagoberto Ramírez puts it, "Here, (in San Pedro),
soccer is the only form of entertainment for men, because
there aren´t any other healthy activities we can do."
In
1926, San Pedro formed its first official soccer league. From
March to July, the 12 teams in the league play 17 matches
and a day of finals, completing the winter season championship.
There
are difficulties involved for the players, however. In addition
to daily time constraints, the extreme temperature variation
in the Atacama Desert doesn´t favor physical exhertion.
Still,
this does not lessen their desire to play.
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Dagoberto Ramírez
Shouting,
clapping, and blowing horns, 11 members of the Ramírez
family cheer wildly from the sidelines as Dagoberto Ramírez
scores yet another goal in the championship soccer match.
At the final whistle, the entire Ramírez family dances
onto the field to celebrate with the team.
Dagoberto,
with the help of his teammates, scores nine of Le Paige´s
15 goals to Quitor's one, thus winning the championship. With
those goals, Dagoberto becomes the leading scorer in San Pedro´s
soccer league, totalling 34 goals in one season.
[Full
Story]
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