!Argentina! the people of Argentina make it a great place to visit and to do business.

• Author: Wiesner, Pat

LAST MONTH I WENT TO A SOCCER GAME IN ARGENTINA. The game was to be huge! The winner to advance to the final four of the South American Cup. It was going to be between Velez, the Champion of the Argentine league, and America, the top Mexican team.

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People streamed in, probably some 50,000 when all was said and done. It was taking place in a suburb of Buenos Aires. We had beautiful seats about 30 rows up just about center field. There was an air of excitement that even we gringos who didn't understand the game could feel. It was going to be a night to remember.

We went to the game in a small bus that I think was hired by the hotel. There were five gringos in our group. As my wife Janet and I sat down, I noticed a couple of kids across the way who we learned later were 8 and 10 years old. The two seats in front of us were vacant, and it didn't take these kids long to get into them, hang off the backs of the chairs facing us, and begin to try out their English. They were in grammar school and they could speak English well enough so that we could have a meaningful conversation.

We found out all about them, their families and their school. We introduced ourselves to their parents and, through hand signals, bad Spanish and returned poor English, we got along. The interesting thing was that we could communicate better with the youngsters than with their parents. I tried to imagine which of my own grandchildren would have had the same presence, charm and presentation to go up to strangers who spoke Spanish and try to have a conversation with them.

Just a few years ago Argentina was a dictatorship. These kids and many others from Argentina will shape a much different future for their country, claiming their rightful place on the world stage.

Back to the stadium!

The soccer was sensational! Fast, skilled and hard fought. The home team won 2-0, thus earning the right to represent Argentina in the final four of the South American Cup.

Some interesting things happened that one would never have seen at a National Football League game. The crowd (very, very partisan) never stopped singing, waving flags and cheering for an hour and a half. At times they jumped up and down in unison so vigorously I thought at one point they might actually damage the stadium. The song was a simple "battle hymn" that went something like, "C'mon Velez, c'mon, c'mon! When Velez plays, we are here and Velez will win!" All the time standing and pushing...