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Men's Soccer

Football: The Universal Language

LIMA, PERU - Some say music is the universal language, but our bemusement at unfamiliar styles of music  tells us that it may be universal, but it's spoken in thousands of sometimes-unintelligible  languages.  

No, football (soccer, if you must) is the universal language. Swarthmore Men's Soccer just flew  3,500 miles to Lima, Peru and proved it. In a pre-season friendly match against Peruvian  superclub Sporting Cristal, we were instantly able to connect with perfect strangers from  another continent. We competed, complained, shook hands, faked fouls, won and lost in the  same language: the language of football. But more on that later—our journey to Club Sporting  Cristal's sprawling headquarters wasn't direct and proved that football touches even those  disinterested in athletics. 
 
Day 1: Travel Day 
12 hours of bus and airplane travel requires patience (and tolerance for road food), but if you're  lucky, all you'll suffer is a few bumps. Aside from more-than-a-few bumps in the air, we landed  safely in Lima, ready for bed. Hotel Dazzler provided beds and a name ripe for off-color variations on a theme. 

Men's Soccer Peru trip

Day 2: Morning Run and City Tour 
The accepted term for 20-plus boisterous young men running in a group is a "Murder of Lads".  This Murder commanded the attention of the locals with a mellow 3.5-mile run along a beautiful  bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was just enough to shake out the stiff legs, but not  enough for veteran assistant coach Ciaran Dalton, who loudly complained that the run was too  short. The rest of the team dismissed his complaints as a cry for attention. Then it was shower,  lunch, and board the bus for a three-hour tour of Lima, Peru's largest city of more than 10  million inhabitants. Klaus, our tour guide and week-long handler, brought us to—and through—  several amazing historic sites, including the Pucllana pyramid, the Basilica of Santo Domingo,  and the Convent de San Francisco

Men's Soccer Peru Trip

Day 3: First Training and Community Service Project
The season's first training session at Markham College showed the promise of a great season  ahead, along with a little bit of summer rust. There's much to do, but many reasons to be  optimistic. After a quick shower and lunch, we embarked on an epic journey to the steep hills  above Lima to help build a retaining wall to expand a community football pitch. There were no  trained footballers in sight, just a neighborhood in need of a better community hub. That hub is  a football pitch. The work was brutal, but the experience was epic. Look for the video on our  Instagram (@SwatMSoccer) and other social media pages. Thanks to the volunteer  organization Bridges Today for hosting and directing this valuable project.

Men's Soccer Peru Trip

After a grueling day, it was back to the hotel for a quick dinner and bed in anticipation of our first match on Day 4.
 
Men's Soccer Peru

Day 4: Match Day and Larco Museum
An early rise was in the cards on Tuesday morning to get breakfast and off to Club Sporting  Cristal. Veteran Coach Rafa Quesada of Markham College was there to show us the facility and  introduce us to the Cristal team. After an abbreviated warm up, our 2025 season was officially  underway. Swat began the match in excellent form, winning contested balls, and creating  several scoring chances. Unfortunately, the finishing touch was lacking and Cristal grew into  the game. Cristal were very technical and crisp, as one might expect from full-time footballers,  and counterattacked very effectively. Perhaps against the run of play Cristal scored on a  sidewinding cracker from the top of the box, which changed the tenor of the half. After adding  a second late in the period via a quick counterattack, the teams entered halftime at 2-0 to  Cristal. The second half started much as the first had, with JP D'Andrea tallying on a nice turn around goal from a loose ball in the box. 2-1 to Cristal. After another counter goal from Cristal,  Swarthmore game captain Joseph Eyiolowope showed his class with a three-touch driven ball  to the lower left corner, beating the Peruvian keeper. The final score: Sporting Cristal 4, Swat 2.  It was a decent effort from Swarthmore for the first scrimmage of the season with just one  training session under their belt. After thanking our hosts for their hospitality, it was lunch,  showers, and off to the stunning Largo Museum: a private collection of Incan and pre-Incan artifacts.

Men's Soccer Peru Trip

Dinner at the museum capped off an epic day, with the team anticipating a little down time.  Stay tuned for more updates as we continue our stay in Lima before traveling to Cusco next  week!

Men's Soccer Peru Trip
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Players Mentioned

Joseph Eyiolowope

#9 Joseph Eyiolowope

F
Junior
Sporting Delaware

Players Mentioned

Joseph Eyiolowope

#9 Joseph Eyiolowope

Junior
Sporting Delaware
F