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OT: Champions League matches


golfaddict1

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4 hours ago, golfaddict1 said:

Damn that was an amazing comeback by FC Barcelona... wow.  Crazy good.  

... and the US teenager Pulisic with a goal and 2 assists for Dortmund!  

Stellar soccer!!! 

 

My son attended the Rome-Lazio match last week -- said it was unlike anything he's ever seen

still have a hard time embracing the sport, but getting into the fandom if the sport

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2 hours ago, Pops said:

My son attended the Rome-Lazio match last week -- said it was unlike anything he's ever seen

still have a hard time embracing the sport, but getting into the fandom if the sport

I am a huge Bayern fan, having seen them play several times in the Allianz in Munich.  I've also seen Barcelona and Manchester United, both at home.  (I represented European companies for several decades and worked with passionate futbal fans.  Several parks were also large sponsors of teams such as Europa Park in southwestern Germany actively involved with Freiburg who are in the German Bundesliga.  If you have ever seen a game on Fox in Freiburg's stadium you'll see Europa Park signs everywhere.)

In Germany tickets are cheap.  Dortmund may have the best setting of all and several years ago you could buy a ticket to see them play for about E 10 which is a shade more than $10.00.  The 80,000 capacity stadium has one end where, literally, 20,000 stand the entire game.  http://www.bvb.de/eng/Tickets/Seating-plan lists the ticket prices.  All of the Bundesliga stadiums are similar or slightly higher in the price of tickets.  The result is that almost every game in every city is sold out-everybody can go.

Demonstrations of the fans are organized beyond anything in America.  This is Bayern Munich's SudKurve website:  http://suedkurve-muenchen.org/ "Ultras" are the most passionate of all fans throughout much of Europe.  (like ultra fans)  Below is a really good video which shows the Bayern Ultras (called the "Shickeria") who are almost all male and between 20 and 35 years old.  About the 3:00 minute mark you'll see three people standing on top of platforms who direct the 5,000 or so in the stands.  Every game at home or on the road has them.  (The video shown at the 3:00 minute mark is, I believe, Berlin.  5,000 or more travel to every away game even if it is 400, 500 miles or further.) There is very real choreography as well as fanatical cheers and responses.  The flares shown in the video are actually not allowed in Munich's 75,000 capacity stadium and it is rare, if even at all, to see them in the stadium. Most of the stadiums around Europe do not allow flares and, if used, have to somehow pass security. However, security really, really varies from one stadium one country to another.  (A note about security to watch Bayern play:  every single person is patted down and has a wand passed over them.  They also walk through metal detectors.  Every single woman must completely empty her purse or any bag.  Every single man must open any package and show what is inside-or empty it out to be inspected. The Allianz arena in Munich is a level of security I have never seen in an American stadium.)  Munich has sold out every single game since the stadium opened ten or so years ago.  I tried to see Dortmund once and couldn't find anyone selling even a scalped ticket.  I stood outside for a long time!  (although you can buy them in advance on the internet)  Manchester United's Old Trafford was special, too, but I prefer the Allianz and Dortmund.  In Munich the SudKurve holds about 5,000 or so Ultras.  The remaining 70,000 seats include a lot of families.  Not every stadium is like this, however.  Wild celebrations including flares and implying violence can scare away a lot of people.  The result is that despite what is shown in the video below most stadiums arrest those who are responsible for this.  UEFA literally fines clubs where fans do not control themselves.  This happened in yesterday's Bayern/Arsenal game where Bayern fans threw hundreds of rolls of toilet paper on the field at the start of the game.  Today, it was announced that Bayern will be fined for their not controlling their fans in the away game in London. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/2017/03/08/uefa-charges-arsenal-bayern-munich-for-fan-incidents/98899176/

An American soccer game does not compare in any way.  

 

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14 hours ago, Pops said:

My son attended the Rome-Lazio match last week -- said it was unlike anything he's ever seen

still have a hard time embracing the sport, but getting into the fandom if the sport

The Cosmos playing in my area in the 70's was all it took.  I've been a fan since.  They had a nice tv deal too, which really pushed soccer for a brief period. 

There are a few things about the game that bother the heck out of me but beyond those few things I really dig watching the Champions league, the top in-league Euro matches, the country friendlies and of course the World Cup.  I'll even take in a US league match occasionally (I like the Seattle squad, great fans and atmosphere).  

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Pulisic is an 18 year old phenom who's parents both played soccer (dad professionally in Europe).  They drove him and he pushed more... 

"He joined the club (youth club in PA) at age 6 and, aside from a few years spent in Detroit and England, honed his skills in central Pennsylvania until he was 14."

"At 14, Pulisic moved to the U.S. Soccer Federation’s under-17 residency program in Bradenton, Fla. (AKA, IMG Academy) In late 2013, he represented the youth squad against Brazil, England and Portugal in a friendly competition that attracted scouts representing a number of European clubs, including Dortmund. Just over a year later, Pulisic agreed to move to Germany and join the club’s U-17 squad."

Family decisions...  and the best one was father and son leaving the family for Germany to hone son's skills for the best career path opportunity that involved the highest level of training and competition.  Football parents and sons are making that same decision annually.   It may be IMG or another school that fits the bill (no pun intended) :).   

Imagine if this poor kid had to play HS soccer for the same team for 4 years...  #notransfersnodaddyball  

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