Why do these US football fans chant in Spanish? - BBC News

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Every time DC United plays in Major League Soccer, a group of fans get their drums and their flags and support their team in Spanish - even though many of them don't even speak the language.
Inspired by the passion of supporters across Latin America, the Barra Brava has become one of DC United's loudest fan groups, as well as a melting pot of nationalities and cultures.
The BBC met Barra Brava founder Oscar Zambrana and Jay Igiel, one of the group's leaders, at a recent match.
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[@T234-i6e]

I love spanish speaking supporters, they have the best energy and show great enthusiasm even when the team is down 3-0 lol

[@Apacolyptic]

ala LAFC supporters!

[@sgfilms5733]

T 21199 that’s very true

[@yungt7037]

DC UNITED! BOOM BOOM BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM

[@HelmetVanga]

Soccer is not a sport, it is a passion, a massive madness

[@moist.teabag]

football

[@rizwanyusuf7350]

@John Doe who care usa sport and nfl outside usa

[@rizwanyusuf7350]

@John Doe in my county and asia nobody have league american football,we have football league in china ,japan,malaysia ,thailand,indonesia,korea and more we dont care american football

[@joshcorbett4787]

@John Doe I’m from the uk and I can safely say not a single person here gives a shit about US sports.

[@nez7980]

Vamos United from Argentina!

[@raimundomedrano9526]

Jaja dice Alemania me debes 2 mundiales italia anda 2 mundiales tu 25 provincia te empata en mundiales y Brasil te debe 3 jajajaja

[@PanthersForce]

I'm not central or South American but I am Mexican/American and have been a fan of DCU for 8 years. I'm loving the multicultural fan environment of the club!

[@ultratj3610]

Admar I’m a Chinese fan since four years, Vamos United

[@flappy6435]

I live in DC and am a lifelong supporter of DCU. Our fan base is so diverse it makes me extremely proud. Thanks to everyone who discovered our fan culture from this video!

[@wiirules13]

awesome! Love how this beautiful game can bring all types of people together😆

[@zoom5024]

nope. look at europe here people die on derbys.

[@zoom5024]

@Ploke Newo78 yepp

[@valkstorm981]

Uh hell no dont bring soccer chants to yall american football

[@Hammster69official]

Why? Because we can, that's why. ^_^

[@jake-mn2ns]

the title of this video makes no sense because the us has no national language and the us is just a big melting pot of ethnicities and nationalities, obviously teams would chant in different languages, itd be different if an english clubs supporters sung in spanish

[@vincentincognoli8470]

Us national language id english

[@xplicitmike]

@@vincentincognoli8470 usa has no national language

[@GuitarReader]

@@vincentincognoli8470 No, there is no official US language.

[@GuitarReader]

The question makes sense and the answer makes sense.

[@del.see.oh.89]

The only country with more Spanish speakers than Mexico is the US. That's why there are Spanish chants. Spanish is incredibly common here and a lot of soccer supporters are Hispanic.

[@cholodesanfe87]

Mexico is not Central America , they are North American . Most are Mexicans fans

[@CoolioXXX52]

El Salvador y Bolivia y Mexico y Argentina

[@francisf9672]

no that is not true

[@davidpac4]

+Francis M there's no set continent who they belong to. The world hasn't agreed to how many continents there is

[@elchucofried5683]

+davidpac4 Europe, Australia, Antartica, North America, South America, Asia, Africa. those are the continent's and 99% percent of the world agrees on this of you are talking about people not agreeing with Europe and Asia well that has nothing to do with this video.

[@BicornioSPA]

Mexico es centro america y norte america al mismo tiempo, no son cosas incompatibles uno es el subcontinente Norte Americano y lo otro es una situación geográfica, Centro America, del mismo modo que Oriente Medio no es otro continente.

[@jihill70]

It's about the spirit, and energy...

[@luvslogistics1725]

Everyone is now chanting Barra Brava! The atmosphere at MLS is great! Welcome the Spanish chants and European ones.

[@ROONTANG]

Respect!

[@KidsReviewAlexnguyen]

Nice to see how far MLS has come, in terms of stadiums, over the past 5 years.

[@jogara9232]

stupid dumb question. half of the USA is of Spanish descendents. now before you call me racist or say I'm stereotyping. ..my wife is from central America. oklkaaayyy. .

[@vaannebilim]

spanish descendants could be white not necessarily mexican or latin american

[@soyderiverdeliverybeaver8941]

vaannebilim yet mexican and latinamerican can still be white you know, one is a nationality and the other a very diverse cultural group.

[@RobotShlomo]

1:57 PLENTY of good seats available.

[@anthonylong9067]

Shame that the stadium itself is old and worn out. They're gonna tear that thing down soon

[@ryanhopper2854]

+Anthony Long yeah we are getting a new 22,000 seat stadium

[@treyjackson6903]

They used to be okay

[@fabianpettersson7587]

Ryan Hopper

[@T234-i6e]

RobotShlomo new stadium next year, it's gonna be so much better

[@plug2735]

VAMOS CAMOS UNITED ESTA NOCHE VAMOS GANAR

[@longliveavalon]

RESPECT from Argentina!

[@RenataCristina-yy7kl]

Argentina 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂

[@longliveavalon]

@@RenataCristina-yy7kl mmmm 🤔🤔🤔

[@fredypae89]

La barra brava !!!

[@T234-i6e]

Radu Ioan the new stadium is gonna be awesome, get some new defenders tho lol

[@jorge4188]

Well, I'm from Chile and a huge football (soccer) fan, and just when I thought that I could never get into any American sports I ran into this video. You got me here, I'll definitely start watching the DC United games and you might have gotten a new fan.

[@Carsondreed7]

Orlando city is more crazier

[@TheLegend-cy1yq]

Carson Milk Seattle is even crazier

[@JoseMartinez-er6hx]

TheLegend0924 and now Atlanta is even more crazier

[@isaacveynaflores1105]

that song vamos United is found in Mexico with Club America amd ive heard this song before DC united was founded toob

[@DanielSotoZ]

Casi todos los equipos de la Liga MX usan ese cántico, no me sorprendería que en el resto de latino América también. El único cántico mexicano que ha sido copiado por equipos extranjeros es el "Cómo no te voy a querer" de Pumas.

[@s.bakyhnh1756]

"Vamos" is from Peru's Universitario, but was popularized by Chile.

[@binkymagnus]

I miss RFK, Audi is just not the same :( on the bright side, I don't have to worry that the place is going to collapse in the middle of the game

[@weeefi821]

fr

[@AmbushRL.]

To be honest Audi is a better stadium and a change was needed, but I still miss all of the memories at RFK.

[@carlosbenitez9164]

They started to say bad words in the game because I went there

[@danlogrono8675]

Ah D.C. United when we had a team and now we have a shit ass team. Although got to give credit to the fans because their passion is crazy for an American soccer team

[@gutterbubbles9965]

Oscar the barra brava leader only shows up to games to be filmed by the way , like in this video - little do they know he's living off dc united supporters fees, which is trashy in the form of one quarter keg a game of some cheap beer for all those people showing up? - All the other supporter groups for DC put their supporter fees into the team , the city and the fans in from of charity, tifo, donations to counties in need, lots of good free beer and plenty of free food for supporters, - Barra is not much more then fans who blindly fund a leader who lives off the money of people who want to "Support" the team. Its a shame. 1600+ people x30$ each = you do the math.

[@JhonnyBoi]

Wow, why had no one ever brought this up?

[@user2834]

Cause we know how to speak and chant in spanish haha, Vamos United

[@aurora8705]

I believe that football in England has the best atmosphere of any sport in the world especially away games

[@mylawnmower7881]

louie ireland Sorry man but Argentina, Germany and Spain all beat out England just to name a few.

[@SL-kz5dk]

My Lawnmower some German and Spanish are better but not all

[@subscriberswithafewvideo-lj6jo]

Welsh supporters are best 😊

[@AmbushRL.]

England fans are horrible. Only a few clubs have good supporters.

[@nijaethompson7647]

They aren't the only team who chants in Spanish.

[@andyflores9938]

Nijae Thompson yeah because other teams are stealing our chants

[@luisa.4768]

Vamos, vamos america Que esta noche tenemos que ganar. We do it way better.

[@sanmiguelrocker]

Great! A Hug from a fan of Millonarios Colombia. Vamos United! ✊

[@benjilatino]

Vamos, vamos chilenos....

[@nathank707]

Kamate555 VAMOS MEXICO

[@Meixueiro80]

Ahora entiendo el por que la hinchada gringa/gabacha alento a su MNT en español esta ultima vez que nos enfrentamos en el Azteca para las eliminatorias!!!

[@rickdalton9351]

Red bull arena is the place to be in the US for fans and chants

[@robertcowde520]

Because we live in new Mexico an we speak Spanish. Somos unidos

[@pecamian]

mmm...USA should be careful with that, the barras bravas are known to turn passion for a team into hatred towards the rivals, usually ending in tremendous and violent fights. That is the last thing you should learn from soccer

[@simonnieder1822]

pecamian yes... Barra Brava is a more special name, more like a firm, a subgroup for the fighters...

[@MacMyKitty]

screw u..

[@robkrime]

No more bara brava at Audi field :(

[@remypereira3096]

I like the Irriducibili of Lazio

[@גוןאיצקוביץ]

Why this report in *BBC Spanish* the comment are desactivated?

[@bobmuller8256]

It's probably because there were two Bolivian players who were popular (Etcheverry and Moreno) so they're not US football fans, they're probably Bolivian or some other hispanic.

[@blackstaff1993]

And why does they waving the Flag of the German Empire?:-D

[@fininho8109]

0:15 Camisa do Grêmio

[@yidarmy8487]

Empty seats if they sell out it would be much better

[@TheKarnatavr]

Are there any subs to this video?

[@-x565x-5]

No atmosphere 😂😂

[@AmbushRL.]

No Friends 😂😂

[@treyjackson6903]

Because they're DC 😂😂

[@2begoth]

De barra brava no tienen nada ! . Les dimos catedra en su casa y les ganamos y los silenciamos . Pumas 3

[@marcelopolino5756]

Estos son un poroto al lado de la buteller

[@liammarshall5393]

He thinks that's crazy go to a Leeds united match mate

[@Gael9Avila]

Lx2 Topgun do u play fortnite

[@fininho8109]

BRAZIL 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

[@AlexCalabrese22]

Anybody else notice their flag is the German world war I flag

[@elbioladordetiasdeljuan69]

Vamos bokita papa

[@mike_p.0536]

That’s what I like to here

[@Jamie-eb1yz]

the mls is like that one kid in school that tried to join in with everything but just got hit

[@kubortthedane9487]

German empire lmao

[@amayranialvarado4064]

They say they're a bit more wild yet the crowd is as dead as can be lol & why are they taking Club América's chant?

[@paulberry2884]

The Latino supporter's group like that song. The deal is if the Latinos join in the English songs we'll sing some Spanish songs. DC moves into their beautiful new stadium 2 miles from Capitol Hill in 2018.

[@jorge4188]

Which one is supposed to be the America’s chant? Cause I can identify all of them as South American chants. Many clubs in South America sing them and actually created them. Club America might have stolen them, so why the hell do you complain

[@zevialtus4757]

I'm an américa fan but that chant is from south america and used by hella teams

[@waqarshaozab3009]

DM[V]

[@mamunmiazi5482]

Hi

[@kylem1112]

ummm maybe because we have a large hispanic population and spanish is the 2nd most used language in the country? why kind of stupid question is the title?

[@otavioarianogaio9373]

E Vai Corinthians

[@stephenfernie8310]

You should speak an American language

[@jesusawesome3657]

because theres not a big us football culture

[@biggsleezy]

MLS ultras should make original chants for goodness sake

[@theofficialpablo1]

Gay Mexican chants

[@leonardoflorentin]

Mas alla de que las barras sean invento argentino, en el video mismo dice que el lider de la barra es BOLIVIANO, seguramente saco la idea de las barras argentinas, pero es BOLIVIANO.

[@NubiansNapata]

This is fatball or handegg not football

[@cdcd4502]

I think it’s silly.. and it alienates the English speaking fans. Spanish people already like soccer. We need to involve more English speakers. This gives the impression thats its a game for spanish people.

[@JhonnyBoi]

How does it alienate when anyone can join?

[@cdcd4502]

@@JhonnyBoi it’s in my original comment.

[@JhonnyBoi]

@@cdcd4502 oh I see. Didn’t read it well. The Spanish chant is specific to DC United. Soccer in the US (MLS) only started in 1996. And at that time at least in DC United’s case, it’s fan base was primarily Spanish speakers because soccer wasn’t mainstream in America as it is now. They mention in the video that they do it as a tradition and tribute to its early start. Not to mention that they were recruiting many players from Spanish countries. Now that soccer is much more popular in the US, the fan base demographics have changed and are recruiting more domestic players but the Barra Brava which is the Spanish speaking fan club is original to the start of DC United in 96 and why they do the chants in Spanish. But anyone can join, it’s not exclusive to anyone, in fact I think now it’s made up primarily of non Spanish speakers. Its tradition for DC, can’t say the same for every other team.

[@cdcd4502]

@@JhonnyBoi hello, my comment is not specific to DC United. It is addressed to this pervasive thing where pretty much all chants in MLS stadiums are in spanish, which to my mind is silly. Btw if you watch games from South America you hear the same chants which is even more ridiculous because it makes it seem we just copied them because we couldnt come up with out own.

[@JhonnyBoi]

@@cdcd4502 well can’t help if its not as popular among non Spanish speakers. Only during the World Cup.