Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of alcohol dependency and death.

In the present, Faustino is shocked at how absorbed he is in El Gato’s story. He is “desperate” for Gato to describe the World Cup in the same exciting way that he described the game in the logging camp. He checks the time and realizes it is past midnight. He tells himself to be patient as Gato starts his story again.

In Gato’s narrative, several sludge busses—large trucks that carry workers—arrive from a different camp the next Saturday. One of the workers excitedly tells Gato that they are men from a camp at Salty River who have come to watch the game. There is also a tinted Mercedes-Benz that follows behind. A finely dressed man and a woman step out of it, shocking Gato and the other workers. Hellman comes out and takes them into his office.

The workers go to the field for the game. As they warm up, Hellman appears and lays out a blanket for the two visitors. Just before the game begins, there is commotion from the Camp spectators. Gato notices a new player, an older-looking European.