Sweden & Norway May 2012

Six games in Sweden and Norway including the England international in Oslo and the derby between Norrkoping and Atvidabergs.

23rd May Norrkoping 2 Atvidabergs 2 15,715

I’d travelled via Ryanair to Gothenburg then drove from there to near Norrkoping.

In pleasant weather this early evening game in the Allsvenskan (top level) was played before a sellout crowd.
It’s the Ostgota derby and the visitors brought plenty of fans who were packed into a section of the open terrace behind the goal.
The home fans produced a flag display before the start.

The ground was a venue in the 1958 World Cup though it has obviously been updated since then.

In the match the home side again conceded goals, as they have done regularly for most of the season so far.
Top scorer Prodell slide in the opener for the visitors but flamboyant man-of -the-match Astrit Ajdarevic then shot in a fine equaliser after showing good control.

Late on substitute Nyman connected with a cross for what seemed like the winner but another sub Mattias Mete then shot in from a narrow angle after the home goalie had failed to clear for 2-2.

I travelled back to my hotel for a late weissbeer and some TV.

24th May Halmstads 2 Brommapojkarna 0 2,303 Superettan

From Norrkoping to near Halmstad where I stayed in a very quiet hotel near the forest about 20km outside of the city.
Halmstad itself has an attractive centre with an impressive old city gate and a good selection of bars and restaurants.
Again their ground was used in 1958 and it retains and old stand with terrace in front.

The ends were unused apart from a ‘corporate’ style tent area.

The home side edged the game scoring with a dubious penalty (the handball looked outside the area)
And finishing off with another late in the second half.

In temperatures of around 19 degrees and in mostly bright conditions there could be worse places than here.

I drove back to Nissastroms and strolled around the forest with a beer followed by some relaxed crazy golf.

26th May 4pm Grorud 3 Elverum 3 Norwegian 3rd level c.100

Into Norway and Oslo by Friday afternoon.

I stayed in a hotel attached to a large hospital at the end of one of the tram lines.

Hence it was easy enough to go into the centre of the city and stroll around in the sunshine.
Apart from the excessive costs Oslo was a very pleasant location to visit for an England international.

Grorud too is easily accessible via the metro.
A number of other English fans also made the trip.

The ground itself is basic with a few rows of terrace/seating and limited player facilities (the away side changed in their bus)
But in bright sunshine on an artificial pitch the teams served up six goals including a couple of penalties and an excellent effort from one of the home strikers.

8.45pm Norway 0 England 1 Oslo 21,496

Back in nice time to stroll to the Ullevaal and see the first game of the new Roy Hodgson era.

It was a win thanks to a Ashley Young goal early in the first half, after he’d been given too much space by the home defenders.

England won but it was against a limited Norwegian side.

But one encouraging factor for the future was that Hodgson was clearly prepared to vary the tactics, for instance with Young often playing ahead of Carroll.
Having a fleet footed striker playing off either a target man or Rooney looked promising.

England will come up against much better defending (and attacking) at the Euros and indeed against Belgium in the last home friendly before Ukraine.

As usual with these friendlies the game petered out in the second half not helped by the various substitutions.
In keeping with the relaxed environment we were not kept in at the end and I was back at the hotel by 11pm for some beer and conversation.

27th May Ljungskile 3 Assyriska 1 Superettan 728

Back into Sweden and a two night stop in Uddevalla.

Some twenty minutes away is Ljungskile a small village next to the fjord where the locals, on this Sunday afternoon, were painting their boats.
And perhaps basking in the glory of a Eurovision Song contest victory - again we beat Norway but nobody else.

This encounter felt fairly low key in a smallish ground a few kilometres away from the centre.

There were 20 or so away fans in part of the seats/terrace opposite the ‘main stand’.

Ex-Sittingbourne striker Kenny Pavey was the star man scoring a hat-trick for the home side.
Assyriska had the consolation of a nice combination goal finished by their captain Batan.

But Ljungskile generally had the match under control after two early goals.

I enjoyed a burger and a coke in very mild weather.

Back in Uddevalla, with the sun shimmering on the water, I walked past the riverfront area to a sports bar for a couple of glasses of red wine whilst watching an Argentinian league game.

28th May Sarpsborg ‘08 1 Baerum 0 Norwegian 1st division 2,527

Sarpsborg is just over the border & about 140km from Uddevalla.

The E6 was busy with Norwegians returning home and particularly slow in the diversion(s)
But I arrived in good time for this 6pm Monday night kick-off.

It was a decent turnout from the locals, many of whom had blue scarves or shirts.
Some two fans were in the small semi-temporary away section.

Sarpsborg ‘08 would go second after this win.

From the outset it looked like the home side would stroll to victory by about 5 or 6 goals as they cut through the Baerum defence with ease.
But they continued to spurn chances or had their efforts saved by the visiting goalie.

It took until the 80th minute before they broke through and even then it took two attempts by sub. Giaever to force the ball home.

Food this time was a waffle, snickers bar and a coke.
It seemed another friendly club where even the nine year olds can converse in english.
Back down the E6 I passed plenty of traffic going the other way and was back at the hotel before 10pm.

more pictures at http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/1293428554

Scottish & Portuguese Cup finals May 2012

Visiting two Cup finals firstly in Glasgow and then in Lisbon.

Hearts 5 Hibernian 1 Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park 51,041

On this form Hibs could be waiting quite a while longer before they win another Scottish Cup.

It didn’t help that they conceded a penalty early in the second half and also went down to ten men.
Just before the break they had, briefly, come into the game with the score at 2-1.

But the last half an hour or so was a stroll for Hearts with Ian Black running midfield.

By then many of the Hibs fans had started to leave and by the end their sections were mostly empty.

I’d taken the morning train from London getting into Glasgow at 1pm, in good time to get to Mount Florida.
There was certainly plenty of atmosphere as you would expect for this Edinburgh derby - the first time they had met at this stage since 1896.

Though I couldn’t help reflecting that Hampden had held nearly three times the present capacity and I’d personally been in a crowd of 134,000 for an Scotland v England game.
But at least the surrounding roads were nowhere near as packed as they were back in those days.

So Hibs long wait for a Scottish Cup win (the last being in 1902) continues.

I took the train back to Glasgow Central and got the 5.30pm to Prestwick where I watched the Champions League final in the company of a Dublin based Celtic fan.

Most locals were supporting Bayern.


Academica 1 Sporting Lisbon 0. Portuguese Cup Final at the National stadium in Lisbon.

And taking of Celtic you could imagine yourself back in 1967 with all the green and white shirts in the same stadium where the ‘Lisbon Lions’ won the European Cup.

This time, unlike at Hampden, a team who had waited a very long time for a repeat Cup victory did manage to win.

Academica, with many fans wearing student gowns and boaters, had only one previous win and that was back in 1939.

The national stadium is three-sided in a wooded setting with large open seating and the only cover being for the VIPs and media.
So it didn’t help that we had a sharp shower just before the start - the day had been cool and showery.

Fortunately my flight from Prestwick to Faro was slightly early and the drive from the Algarve quick and trouble-free.
Although anyone going to this final should allow plenty of time as the traffic near the stadium was horrendous and the parking chaotic.
But in the end I was inside the ground an hour before the 5pm kick-off.

The fans were split about 70:30 with, as you would expect, many more supporting Sporting.

The winner came early, after three minutes, as Academica caught Sporting a bit cold.
A cross from the left was headed in by Marinho.

The team in black then defended well, frustrating most of the Sporting attacks.

Into the second period the game opened up with striker Edinho having two great chances - both spurned.
Later Ricky van Wolfswinkel had his opportunities, a one-on-one and a header.
Again he also failed to convert.

With time running down Academica resorted to typical time wasting tactics and so we had six minutes of added time.

Each time Sporting did get close the opposing goalie blocked the shots.
They did have an earlier decent claim for a penalty but it was not to be.

So it ended with the ‘Academics’ triumphant and as the morning paper said it was not a quiet night in Coimbra.

I walked up and the down the hills, making a brisk getaway and was back in Faro by 10pm.

more pictures from Hampden at http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/1279556410
and from Lisbon at http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/1279607852

Denmark May 2012

Three Superliga games in Denmark including seeing a couple of the less prominent teams in Copenhagen.

Horsens 2 Midtjylland 1 12th May 4,869

4th and 3rd in the Superliga played at the Horsens Arena on a cool day with a bitter wind.

The stadium’s characteristic features are its unusual curved roofs at the ends and some impressive floodlight pylons.

The visitors brought 400 or so fans but they would go home disappointed despite Midtjylland passing it around quite well.
In the end their defence proved unable to stop some clinical home finishing.

Midtjyland did go ahead early on when Igboun sped down the right and his cross was put in by Hassan.
But the Horsens equaliser came from substitute Lodberg and on 36 minutes man of the match Faberberg drove home the winner after the visitors failed to clear their lines.

Back in the centre of town I enjoyed a couple of Paulaner beers followed by a good value Chinese buffet.

Lyngby 3 Aab Aalborg 2 13th May 1,344

I took the train from Horsens on Sunday to Copenhagen (less than 2.5 hours) and had enough time to check-in to my hotel before getting the S-Tog to Lyngby, a northern suburb of the capital.

The Lyngby stadium has some attractive hedges around the small curved terracing.
Even though it has a track it has a definite old style charm.

Obviously not the best supported team in Copenhagen Lyngby only had a few ultras and they were outnumbered by the away fans’ version.

It was a watchable game with left winger Bech prominent at times for home side.
Lyngby belied their low position (2nd bottom) by going ahead twice with a nice finish from Christianse and a penalty.
AaB equalised each time , the second after the home goalie should have cut out a cross.

But Mortensen headed the winner in the last few minutes to get the win.

Viewing was a lot more pleasant in the sunshine at this one after the chill of Horsens.

I took the S-Tog back to central station to watch the epic last twenty minutes of Manchester City v QPR.

A meal in an Australian restaurant (near to one of L Ron Hubbard’s offices) included some surf and chips, Little Creatures beer and a dessert.
It was well presented, quality food if somewhat minimalist.
(I decided against the more exotic options of kangaroo and crocodile)

Nordsjaelland 0 OB Odense 0 14th May 8,677

Played in Farum another, more distant, suburb of Copenhagen at the end of one of the S-Tog lines.

Farum seemed pleasant enough with its bicycle shops and tulips on the grass verges.
The smallish stadium, low level seating all around plus some terrace for the ultras at either end, is a fifteen minute walk from the station.

Though they don’t have the tradition or the fan base of the bigger clubs in the capital area FC N could win the Danish Superliga.

This draw won’t help but as it stands they are still only one point behind FC Copenhagen with two games remaining.

OB had much less possession and were second best in most areas but they defended well.
Each time the home side got close goalkeeper Stefan Wessels saved or one of his defenders got in a block.
American man of the match Michael Parkhurst had one of the best chances in the last few minutes but his shot clipped the bar.

Young Ghanaian Enock Adu generally had the better of the midfield duels with Djemba-Djemba and Traore as FC N built their attacks.

But finally, despite the best efforts of Mikkel Beckmann and co. they had to settle for a draw.

It got cooler later as I joined the numerous cyclists on the train back to the centre.

more pictures at http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/1271095969

Corsica April 2012

A long weekend visit to Corsica seeing three games including Ajaccio v Nancy and Bastia v Chateauroux.

21st April Aregno Calvi 2 Lens B 2 CFA group A c.200 (mostly kids)

This match was played in Ile Rousse rather than Calvi, not that I knew that beforehand.

I drove past the ground on my way to picturesque Calvi where I stopped to have a look around and locate what I thought would be the venue.

So thinking had plenty of time I strolled over to the ground in Calvi by about 2.15pm & began to wonder why there was nobody around.

Maybe the kickoff time had changed ?
None of the locals I spoke to could help.

Then eventually I noticed on one of the electronic street ads that the game was 24km back up the road.
So I missed the first fifteen minutes or so.

But at least there had been no goals.

The pitch was 3G and the ground had a ‘clubhouse’, refreshment area plus a few rows of open sets down one side.
You could see the ocean under a cloudless sky.

Lens B passed the ball better but were pegged back by Calvi for whom no.7 (Lesueur) looked useful.
Bela scored both the Lens goals after some good combination play.

Back at my base in Corte I enjoyed some ‘nouvelle cuisine’ whilst watching El Clasico.

22nd April Ajaccio 0 Nancy 0 Ligue 1 6,140

Back to normal (?) in France with a goalless draw.

But the second half particularly had its moments especially when the game got stretched.
As is often the case the teams failed to deliver the telling final ball or convert what chances there were.
The home side, needing a win, came closest at the end of the first period when they hit the bar.

Nancy looked like they would have taken the draw before the game started.

The stadium, out of town and fairly close to Napoleon Bonaparte airport is small and three sided.
But you do have nice views of the sea and the mountains.

The local ultras did their best.

Ajaccio fielded some very small players especially no.12 (Sammaritano) who must be one of the shortest players participating in a major league.


23rd April Bastia 2 Chateauroux 1 Ligue 2 14,121

This win effectively confirmed promotion back to Ligue 1 for Bastia.

And it triggered lots of celebrations amongst the local fans.

The home side attacked hard from the start with the flank players especially dangerous.
Wahbi Khazri and Toifilou Maoulida would get the goals, the second via a long ball that eluded the visiting defenders.

But Chateauroux did present a threat and they got a goal back when central defender Fournier glanced in a free kick.
Midfield schemer Mikael Orinel showed some good touches for the visitors who could have spoiled the party.
Bastia thus maintained an undefeated home record stretching back nearly two years.

So in the end we had fans on the pitch, red flares and lots of waving of the blue and white flags.
One of the best Ligue 2 atmospheres I can remember.


Corsica is a very pleasant, compact island with some stunning scenery and excellent restaurants and hotels.

In the summer I’m sure the roads can get very busy with the tourist influx but during April getting around is manageable.
Although you certainly need to leave plenty of time to get to the two main stadiums (and get parked)
It took me well over an hour to drive the 12km or so from my hotel (the excellent Chez Walter) to the Bastia ground.
But it was definitely worth the wait.

more pictures at http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/1243820612

USA April 2012

This trip comprised three MLS matches, one NBA (basketball) in Chicago, one NHL (ice hockey) in Montreal and four MLB baseball games.

Denver.

I arrived in Chicago from London then travelled on to Denver the next day.

1st April Colorado Rapids 2 Chicago Fire 0 MLS Dicks Sporting Goods Park 13,152

The stadium is in Commerce City adjoining Denver and next to the prairie (but no sign of any buffalo).
It is a modern soccer specific ground with a concourse around the back of the seats, one end having a smaller seating area with a bar/restaurant

The ends are mostly open and the sides have partial cover. There is a large scoreboard behind the left end.

It was a reasonable turnout on a spring holiday Sunday with groups of ‘ultras’ at one end with their flags & drums.
As always in the States there is a constant flow of people around the food outlets.

The game was characterised by too many misplaced passes, a general lack of control and not much serious tackling.
As seems true of most of the MLS sides there is a mix of willing but inconsistent locals and some older, more skilled latin americans and assorted others.

The first half was goalless with Fire looking more threatening, especially striker Odura and midfielder Pappa.

But into the second half the Rapids took the lead when a long ball found Mullan in space & he pulled it back for Jamaican Cummings to score.
That gave the Rapids more confidence.

Despite Fire pressure the home side added a clincher late on.

This was the first defeat of the season for Chicago.

It was easy enough to get away and I was back at my hotel in Belleview by 7.45pm

On the Monday I drove out to Boulder where the hippy dream still seems to live on with shops selling beads and (medicinal) cannabis.
It was fairly cold but comfortable enough to stroll around Pearl street and one of the impressive local malls.

Salt Lake City.

I took the greyhound bus from Denver to Salt Lake City, a journey of some ten hours through Laramie and Wyoming.
On the bus I was joined by an ex-marine, a snowboarder and a guy working on a reservation who had slept rough the night before.
We stopped four or five times en route including a meal stop at McDonalds.

Arriving late into Salt Lake the centre of the city was given over to the skateboarders.

4th April Real Salt Lake 1 Montreal Impact 0 20,191

The Rio Tinto stadium is in Sandy to the south of Salt Lake City but easily reachable by the efficient light rail system.

It’s another relatively new soccer specific ground with open ends plus part covered two tier sides.

RSL have a mix of players from Argentina, N Ireland, Brazil and Canada as well as some locals.
They had one more Canadian than Montreal, who had none in their starting eleven.

The only goal came from a penalty following an Impact handball.
Brazilian Paulo Junior converted.

Montreal, with a virtually new team from last year, have become the 19th MSL franchise and though they lost there were signs of improvement in the second half. They did mount some dangerous attacks towards the end.

They were also helped by some excellent saves from Jamaican international goalie Donovan Ricketts.

RSL central defender Chris Schuler could be a name to note for the future.

So the large crowd went home happy as the Cobalt and Clarets consolidated first place in the Western Conference.

I got the light rail back to the centre, chatted to some LDS guys and stopped at a downtown bar to have a beer.

From Salt Lake to Chicago.

5th April Chicago Bulls 93 Boston Celtics 86 22,423

An evening of music, dancing, entertainment and some basketball in the United Center.

Which is not in the most interesting area of the Windy City.
.
On a cold night I bought a ticket ($50) and went inside early.
Although I had a standing ticket there was no problem in finding a seat in the 3rd level.

So plenty of time for some chicken portions and chips washed down with a couple of margaritas. This being America you have to suspend budgetary concerns.

My first NBA game and it would wrong to deny its not a spectacular event.
But the late finish, the numerous timeouts and the other stoppages spoil the game.

No doubt the action is fast and skillful - the Celtics led for the first half but the Bulls fought back, and the crowd became noisier.

Sudanese born (but in the GB team) Luol Deng top scored as the Bulls retrieved a second period eleven point deficit to win easily and stay top of the Central division.

By the end, as we waited for the timeouts, half the crowd had left.

Montreal

7th April 12pm Montreal Impact 2 Toronto 1 MLS 23,120

Unusually for an MLS game there was a decent number of away fans with some 1,000 red shirted Toronto fans making the trip. And they did their best to create a better than usual atmosphere.

Impact are playing in the enclosed Olympic stadium whilst their stade Saputo is being updated.

Though far less than the opening game well over 20,000 witnessed their first ever MLS win in this Canadian derby.
They opened the scoring when Bosnian Ubiparipovic slotted home. The home ultras celebrated by doing a ‘poznan’.

Again goalie Donovan Ricketts played his part with some good blocks.

Toronto were up against it in the second half when they had their impressive defender Emory sent off for what seemed like a decent tackle on Gambian Nyassi.

The ten men lost another goal to a breakaway when sub. Wenger (no relation ?) benefited from a defender’s error.
Koevermans did get a late consolation for the visitors.

It was cosy enough inside the arena which has a large scoreboard at one end with the seats behind being blocked off. The smaller upper tier was also not in use.

Easy enough to get to and from the Olympic Park area by metro.

Back in the city centre the locals mingled along St Catherine street.

7th April 7pm Montreal Canadiens 4 Toronto Maple Leafs 1 NHL 21,273

Thats more like it in a nearly full Bell Centre in downtown Montreal.

I had got a ticket outside for $30 - near the back of the upper tier but at least we got a free beer.
The guy next to me, one of the Toronto soccer fans at the earlier game, shouted himself hoarse to get a free t-shirt.

It is quite a spectacle when the players first go onto the ice with the lights dimmed.

And extremely noisy when the Canadiens scored early on.

They scored another to go two up and though the Maple Leafs did get one back the locals were not to be denied with a final shot from one end to the other into an open goal.

The game is much more enjoyable (for me) than either NBA, or NFL for that matter, with two breaks between the periods but limited additional interruptions.
The sense of occasion when a team scores and the tactical development make it much more watchable.

The last part of the trip was to see four MLB games in different cities around the mid-west.

Minneapolis

9th April Minnesota Twins 1 LA Angels 5 39,414

I flew from Montreal via Chicago to Minneapolis/St Paul.

Minneapolis is famous for having the largest mall in the US.
The light rail system takes you there and it is certainly a haven for kids, with a large amusement park and, of course, for shoppers.
Which on both counts excludes your correspondent, but you can’t deny the ‘awe’ factor.

As Minneapolis can be somewhat cold the city centre has an impressive system of covered walkways linking the major office buildings and the ballpark.

Where for the first time I saw overhead heaters at a baseball stadium and they were definitely welcome on a cold Monday afternoon.

It was also the first time I had experienced the opening day home game of any team.
This brings out the crowds and over 39,000 were present to see the Twins start badly and score just the single home run.

The Angels got 2 runs in the first innings and added another three later on to win comfortably.
That was despite the Twins having local boy Joe Mauer, the highest paid player in MLB, in their team.
Joe disappointed and most of the crowd had drifted away well before the end.

Cincinnati.

Minneapolis/St Paul is not the busiest airport and it was easy enough to go through for my flight back to Chicago.
From Midway I took a car to Cincinnati, which is a 300 mile drive via Indianapolis.

10th April Cincinnati Reds 1 St Louis Cardinals 3 17,110

Some areas of Cincinnati are not so conducive but I eventually found a Ramada hotel near the I-75 for a reasonable price.
I shared a taxi with a couple of Cardinals fans one of whom had been to about 50 stadiums - the first time I had met a US fan who travelled around that much.
Pre-game, having bought the cheapest ticket ($7), I went for a beer in a nearby bar which served the ale in large jars - a popular choice for most fans.
Inside the ground I had a decent chicken and chips washed down with a margarita.

Again it was too cold to sit down for long so I stood up.

Though the crowd were noisy when the Reds scored they were mostly quiet as the Cardinals scored an early home run and ran in two more in the seventh.
While at the game I happened to chat to a knowledgeable local who turned out to be an ex-Reds catcher (he had his own baseball card)

Detroit.

An early start for the 260 mile drive from Cincinnati to Detroit north on the I-75.

I arrived at Detroit by 11.30am and was able to park on the street within a ten minute walk of the ballpark. (If it had been a night game I would have put the car in a car park)
But during the day the city centre is busy enough.

11th April Detroit Tigers 2 Tampa Bay Rays 4 28,180

Again a low cost ticket could be had ($10) and as long as you were in the sunshine it was a comfortable enough watch.

The game had some unusual incidents beginning with star pitcher Justin Verlander throwing 8 straight strikes.
He would pitch for 8 innings, giving up just one hit, before it all went wrong in the ninth.

Before that we had seen two ‘balks’ (illegal motions by the pitcher), the second resulting in a run for the Tigers.

And so to the ninth when the Rays got two when the bases were loaded and two more from relief pitcher Valverde to get the win.
It was the first defeat for the Tigers.

The game finished at 3.50pm and I set out for the return drive to Chicago.

Chicago.

12th April Chicago Cubs 8 Milwaukee Brewers 0 36,311

Having a game at 1.20pm suited my plans perfectly.
It allowed me to drop off the hire car at Midway, get the subway into downtown, drop off my bag and go to the ballgame before taking the evening flight back to London.

This was a revisit to Wrigleyville and though it didn’t have resonance of the first occasion (a night game) it remains an iconic venue.
A cheeseburger, some cracker jacks and a pepsi seemed most appropriate.

I sat on the second level and saw the Cubs (who were 1-5) run in six in the 3rd before the Brewers changed their pitcher.

They would add another two in the fourth.

The Cubs starting pitcher, Matt Garza, nearly pitched the whole game before he inexplicably overthrew to first base with the final batter at his mercy and got relieved (to boos from the fans).

So the Cubbies won and the kids on Spring break enjoyed their day out.

I retrieved my bag from Union station ($9 - with fingerprint check) and set off for O’Hare and then home.

more pictures at http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/1230344852