Sunday, August 09, 2009

My first football match ever

Live, I mean.

If I have to rate the experience between 1 and 10, it would easily get a 9. Despite transportation problems (every weekend there are line closures, trains being cancelled, etc. You learn to live with that), we got to Wembley Stadium quickly and with no major problems.

One thing that wasn't part of the show, but it will be added to the whole experience: a bus was in fire at the parking lot. By the time the fire brigade got there, half of it was burned - but it didn't explode!! I think nobody got hurt.

Back to the game. The stadium was packed: almost 86,000 people in there; half blue (Chelsea supporters), half red (ManU supporters). I don't have a team in the UK, but I was supporting Chelsea because 1) we were in the blue are, 2) Mr. C is a Chelsea supporter, 3) does it matter?
I rally get into a game whenever I decide to watch it, no matter what sport, and live is even worse. I do get very stressed, very anxious, very... fan. As a result, my nails are all bitten, I have sore throat from screaming, and I'm a bit in pain from the stress.

In my humble opinion, I think ManU played better, but what can you do? Football is always a surprise - not always the best team wins and this time I can't complain. It feels good to be in the winning side.

One thing I really liked about the match is that people are really well-behaved. I'm pretty sure it would have ended in a fight if this was a match in Brazil.

I also really like the acoustic of the place: you can feel the singing in you, the claps and feet stepping on the floor seem like a thunder storm. I loved it!

And Wembley Stadium is just so beautiful. It's a brand new stadium, so everything still looks shiny and new. Very comfy chairs, perfect green grass, very nice quality screens.

The way back wasn't as nice as the way there, but still wasn't too bad. Almost half of the people left earlier but we still had to fight our way to the tube station and we got two packed trains home. Our final train had air con, which was great!

All in all, fantastic experience. I'm not a football fan, even less of English football, but I think everybody should try it at least once.

2 comments:

  1. I know some people who envy you about right now. Sounds like a very nice experience. I am glad you are able to get into the "game" and become a fan, that is the whole purpose of watching it.

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  2. Lelei1:04 PM

    I am SO glad you enjoyed it. When of the reasons I stopped supporting football was all the nearly heart attacks I would have everytime Palmeiras was on. And now I have Chelsea and Southampton to suffer for too! lol

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Uuuuh, so you decided to comment, huh? Well done!