‘Where there’s a Colombian, there’s a party’: Fans hyped for KC World Cup match

A yellow tide hit 45th Street and Main Thursday evening, where thousands of Colombian fans packed the outside of the team’s hotel to get a glimpse of some players.

Little did they know the entire team would appear right in front of them.

The Banderazo Colombiano was held at Mill Creek Park on the Country Club Plaza. Similar to the pep rallies in Miami and Mexico for the opening matches, the party featured live music, dozens of vendors, and lots and lots of dancing.

Teresa Wright grew up in Lawrence and has seen her fair share of pep rallies fore Kansas City Chiefs and University of Kansas games. But when she arrived at the banderazo alongside her Colombian mother, she was shocked to see the turnout.

“I’m taking it all in,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve seen this many Latinos in Kansas all together.”

People traveled from all over to attend the KC festivities ahead of the match against Ghana on Friday, July 3. It didn’t take long for the park to be covered in la marea amarilla, a Spanish term for the yellow tide of Colombian soccer fans.

Over a dozen friends and family paired their jerseys with war yellow, blue and red feathered headdress, which they brought from their homes in Colombia. They custom-ordered the hats and secured them in a special hat-exclusive suitcase in the plane. It’s their fourth World Cup showing up in uniform together.

Edgar Guerrero was one of the many with the flamboyant headgear.

“We are delighted. Delighted by this beautiful city, who welcomed us with open arms, and we’re grateful for that,” Guerrero said.

Pretty soon after the banderazo had started, the party started moving up the street — all the way to the Marriott Hotel at 4445 Main St., where the players were staying. Right before the match, it’s tradition for fans to cheer on their team so that the players know there are thousands excited to see them in action the next day.

Rocío Solares was born and raised in Colombia, but has lived in Kansas City for 10 years. She’s beyond ecstatic to see the team and fans altogether.

“This is the best thing that could have happened. It’s the best that Colombia is here in Kansas, which has never happened before,” she said. “There’s so many Colombians, and I love seeing my country here. I’m so moved.”

And while the excited fans spent a while scanning each hotel window to see if they could spot a player, the team gave them an even better surprise: coming out on the balcony.

Fans were originally split along the side of the hotel and in a pavilion across the street, with several cops asking them to stay away from the streetcar tracks and to allow cars to pass. But when the team came out, the officers knew there was no stopping them. The street was temporarily closed as the sea of yellow filled the intersection of Main and 45th streets.

‘My head hasn’t stopped spinning yet’

Orlando Gutierrez is the president of the local Colombian Cultural Association, which works to bring Colombians together while educating the public about the community. The association worked with a traveling group to plan the Banderazo Colombiano.

An event they planned in four days.

For context, the Colombian Cultural Association has been working to plan Colombia’s July Independence Day celebration since February. They suspected more people would be at the banderazo.

“My head hasn’t stopped spinning yet,” Gutierrez said. “We hope it will go off without a hitch.”

He worked with the city to plan out the event as efficiently as possible, who he said were very responsive.

John Guzman is a local born in Cali, Colombia. While he did not attend the banderazo, Guzman is happy to see his two worlds collide. He has three hopes as the “marea amarilla” makes it to KC: visitors are pleasantly surprised by the city’s size, enjoy the unique cuisine and get to know the “warmth” of Kansas Citians. He also hopes to see it happen the other way around.

“I want Kansas City to also see Colombia as more than just coffee or the news or maybe the politics of the country,” he said.

And he expects the celebrations to continue throughout the weekend.

“Where there is a Colombian, there is a party. We’re very animated people,” Guzman said. “We even dance to the music and commercials, so it’s just part of the spirit of Colombia.”

Beyond being cheerleaders, Gutierrez also hopes the event will help fans feel unified, despite being thousands of miles away from home.

“Obviously we’re not in Colombia, but we want to feel like we are,” he said. “We want those who join us to get a good sense of what it’s like to celebrate something like this within the Colombian community as if they were in Colombia.”

The team stood outside for a while, watching and waving as fans cheered, sang and danced. When the team started to head out, thousands of hands reached in the air to wish them goodbye and good luck. In response, six players interlocked their arms together and made a wave right back to la marea amarilla.