France & Germany March 2008

Amiens 1 Arles 1 Amiens won 4-2 on penalties in the French Cup.

Played in the very unusually styled Stade de Licorne in front of 4500 with a small group of away fans.
Eric Sabin (ex-Oxford & Northampton) scores for lower league Arles who lead until 1 minute before the end when Amiens equalise then go on to win on penalties.



Siegen 0 Ingolstadt 1 in the (German) Regional League South.

Cold, some sleet , very uncomfortable for most of the 4000 in a mainly open stadium.

One free kick goal wins it.


Reims 0 Angers 1



Into France again (Ligue 2) to see this half-built stadium host another away win .

Sandhausen 0 FSV Frankfurt 3 in the Regional League South


Back over the border into Germany to see a convincing win for FSV.


And thankfully its almost springlike.




Later the same day (it takes an hour or so to get from Sandhausen to Strasbourg)


Strasbourg 0 Lille 1


In an interesting city - with exceptional architecture & history - it is France but it could be (and obviously was) Germany.

This game represented my 4th away win in a row.

The home team had a man sent off & lacked some punch up front.
Lille were more convincing before a crowd of 16000 or so.

Mainz 1 Hoffenheim 1 in the 2.Bundesliga .

Ok its not Anfield or Celtic Park but 'you'll never walk alone' was impressive enough with all those red scarves.
So a good atmosphere and a good game with a draw being about right.


Alemannia Aachen 1 Bor Moenchengladbach 1

In the cold & sleet & snow again. 'you'll never walk....' appears again but slightly less effectively.

Moenchengladbach are top of the 2. Bundesliga and bring plenty of fans.

But its Aachen who take the lead early on through the excellent Ebbers. However the away team, prompted by the impressive Neuville, do get the equaliser.


Onto Paris for the England game.

Firstly, as a contrast, some culture - museums - of the middle ages and judaism.

France 1 England 0 at the Stade de France

After seeing 7 games without a (proper) home win this had to be it.

The speed of Anelka causes the penalty and Ribery scores easily enough.
Though there was some good passing by England but not too many good chances.
As usual it gets a lot more disjointed as the subs come on in the 2nd half.

Beckham gets his hundreth cap and very good applause when substituted.

for more pics see http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/41768289