OT: Going to my first International Soccer Friendly: Any Advice MGoBloggers?
I am headed to Boston to visit family, and I will be taking in the AC Roma-Liverpool FC game at Fenway. I have seen a fair number of soccer posts on this board, and I wondered if anyone could give me advice for what to look for at this game?
I have followed Liverpool a bit, but I will be sitting in the AC Roma section. In looking at the rosters, I was happy to find out that Michael Bradley is on the team!
The kickoff is at 6:30, and I wondered if being in the park early for warmups was worthwile? I always love to watch the football team warm up at the Big House, but I have not been to a big soccer game before.
Any advice would appreciated.
Have fun. Michael Bradley just signed for Roma, but i'd expect Liverpool to pull off a win. They underperformed for a large portion of the 2011-2012 EPL season.
You ever watched a game of Pong? Something like that but with beer.
First piece of advice: Don't call them AC Roma when you're sitting in their section. It's AS Roma. Just a heads up. Have fun and watch out for some Italian WAGs taking an American vacation.
Try to sit with Liverpool supporters, but as close as you can to the AS Roma supporters, and so when you're done singing "You'll Never Walk Alone," you can bust into "Arriverderci, Roma!" The Romans love that!
Trade up to "Green Monster" seats
At the Pontiac Silverdome for a friendly I was able to sneak down into awesome seats which I'd expect to be possible without too much trouble at Fenway so try it out.
For starters, you should know what an international friendly is. This isn't it.
It IS an international club friendly though.
When the melee breaks out, aim for the wedding vegetables.
Don't bother worrying about the final score, because I'm certain nobody you watch on the field will care. Seriously - I've been watching soccer for 25 years, and the biggest scam there is are the ticket prices for preseason friendlies. Why do you think they come to America - they know soccer-starved Americans will pay stupid ticket prices for sub-rate exhibitions.
Both teams MIGHT play their first 11. You'll be lucky to see much if anything out of guys like de Rossi, Gerrard or Carroll. You're going to see a bunch of subs and unknown players in the second half.
I have to reiterate this: this is little more than a public workout for Roma and Liverpool. Don't expect them to play too hard or to play for a result. They are all slowly working into game shape after most of them had a month and a half on the beach.
Especially Roma. They lost Mexes last year, and now Juan, and missed out on Lucio when he left Inter for Juve, and now Simon Kjaers loan spell is over and they didn't buy him. They're shedding defenders left and right. Point of interest will be if Fabio Borini dresses because Liverpool just bought him from Roma.
I would actually consider it lucky if they kept Carroll on the bench.
Scam...like preseason football games here?
Very similar, IMHE. Neither warrant any attention. The only reason these soccer matches get attention is the allure of having the club in your country.
Imagine if the Packers played the Chargers in a pre-season game in Shanghai and did the familiar mass substitutions. We'd all chuckle at the locals for spending top dollar on those tickets (if they had to pay).
That actually happenned, they play some pre-season NFL games in cities like London, Berlin, and even Tokyo. I think it's just a way to build a fan base across the globe, and maybe even raise the sport in those countries. Now I agree the tickets should be priced so its very affordable to families.
Do these int'l club friendlies usually sell out? If so, can you really blame them for pricing the tickets where they are.
When these friendlies started in the early 00s (I went to Man U - Bayern in 2003 in Chicago - terrible game, waste of time and money, the best part was watching Man U's starting lineup run sprints post-game after not dressing for the match) there were many sellouts. I believe many still sell-out, so yes, there are still lots of people in America willing to pay lots of money for sub-standard soccer.
Insert your MLS joke here.
I mean, if you're not like boozing or eating before the game, it'd definitely be worth it to walk around Fenway while they warm up, especially if you're taking photos and stuff. I'm not sure what type of warm ups they're going to be doing before the game though. Liverpool is already in town, I believe.
I think it's something you should watch if you haven't experienced it before, it's quite different, and generally they do pretty sweet warmup drills, I would go and check it out if I were you, to get the whole experience. I am sure you dropped a bit of money on the tickets too, so enjoy! :)
1. Wear the right colors. For Liverpool that'd be red. AC Milan I have no idea. Wear a fucking rainbow or tie-dye for them.
2. Get something to eat before the game and then get drunk on lager because everyone else will be.
3. Try to get your hands on a song or chant sheet somewhere. Although you're drunk, I found the singing and chanting to be the funniest part of the match. Chants of "YOU FAT BASTARD!" are remarkably funny when thousands of drunk men are screaming it at the top of their lungs....
Milan isn't playing - Roma is. They wear a darker, maroonish red with yellow trim (the giallorossi is their nickname).
AS Roma's colors are somewhat similar to Virginia Tech's, more than say, USC, The yellow is kind of orangy.
Expect Borini to show Andy Carroll how the game is supposed to be played.
http://www.whoareyadesigns.com/product-p/liv1.htm
The tshirt seller also raises a good question of whether they will play You'll Never Walk Alone. Maybe you can refresh memory on the lyrics just in case.
I just died inside.
WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?!?!
You'll Never Walk Alone
As mentioned above, Fabio Borini just moved from Roma to Liverpool so it would be interesting to see what he does. Other things: Liverpool's defensive midfielder Lucas Leiva is coming off of an ACL tear that caused him to miss most of the 11-12 season so you might want to watch how he's moving around. Charlie Adam is an attacking midfielder (also coming off of a knee injury) who likes to hoof passes half the length of the field and may not be able to adapt to the team's new MO which involves a lot of running and short passes.
I wish fernando torres was still playing for liverpool, they used to have this sick song for him...
I'm sure Fernando wishes for the same thing.
Don't wear a soccer jersey unless the team on your shirt is one of the two teams in the game. I went to US v Canada at Ford Field last summer and everyone around me was wearing random jerseys. Going to a Liverpool game in your Man U shirt makes no sense.
♫ We're Millwall, lions of the Den
We're Millwall, no one likes us
And we don't care! ♫
/or something like that