Favourite Football Moments: part 1

From now on I will post 5 great goals or moments every week or so and explain what makes them great to me.

Carlos Alberto: World Cup final 1970 vs Italy
This goal was the icing on the cake for the best team ever in World Cup football. The goal starts at the back and on the left. A genious lay-off by Pelé to set up the right back to score this goal. Absolutely amazing team effort.



Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten: Euro88 final vs USSR
As this was one of my first memories of football I remember it vividly. My favourite player that time, Gullit, scored the most powerful header. Those rasta's flying in the air and the cheers afterwards, unforgettable! If that wasn't enough Van Basten scored what was one of the most incredible goals ever. Best thing about those goals was that they came with a major international trophy. We won the European Championship!!!! Therefor 1988 will always be the year.


Esteban Cambiasso: World Cup 2006 group stage vs Serbia&Montenegro
I was watching this match and afterwards I was convinced this team should win the World Cup. How the are we gonna beat that team? We didn't, ended second in the group with them and were lucky to get to next stage. The Argentina manager is the biggest moron ever! One of his best players, Messi, was left on the bench in the match they lost on penalties vs Germany! What a disgrace.


Faustino Asprilla: 1993 World Cup qualifier vs Argentina (5-0)
Tino the Latino and Colombia performed at their best. A great team with Fredy Rincon, Carlos Valderama, Rene Higuita and the late Andres Escobar were set to do great things. Unfortunately they never really get to this level again afterwards.


Romario: sometime in his Barca days, I believe this is against Mallorca
There are plenty great goals by Romario and some might pop up here in the future. I just love the nonchalance with which he scores this goal. So effortless, yet an amazing goal. Don't forget the great set up by Michael Laudrup.

World Cup, Korean Style

Unfortunately the World Cup is not every year, cus the month it's played is my absolute favourite. In all my 25 previous years of life, which include 6 World Cups, I never had the chance to experience it from up close. So last summer in Germany it was finally time to absorb the passion of the biggest sporting event in the world. Luckily I made some new friends at the end of the 2005 summer and one of them had tickets for two World Cup games of the Korean national team. Ok, she didn't have extra tickets for me, but she convinced me to tag along to see if I might be able to get one there and to keep her company of course. One of the better decisions in my life!
The first match was France vs Korea in Leipzig. Once we arrived there the atmospher was already amazing with fans from both countries singing and the streets waving their flags. No clashes between fans, verbally nor physically, which is great for a change. The Koreans were singing their songs in the tram towards the stadium and that gave me goosebums all over. Finally there, I had to find a way to get into the stadium. It was my lucky day, a group of Frenchies approached me with a ticket their friend wouldn't use. My first reaction was: I want it for sure, who cares about the money! So I quickly came up with the 100 euro's the wanted for it and collected my ticket. The prize wasn't too much, it was the exact same as it was printed on the ticket itself. My friend was of course rooting for Korea and sitting with the Red Army. Me myself on the other hand ended up in the middle of a blue see. Of course I was prepared and pulled out my France jersey to fit in perfectly.
The stadium in Leipzig is amazing! The walk up the stairs and before that over the grass towards it looked great. The view, even from way up was perfect and the sound of the singing fans was very good. Eventhough the game wasn't all that spectacular, I was really excited and hyped up afterwards. My first real life World Cup experience was absolutely top notch!

The second game I watched was Korea vs Switzerland. Again the atmosphere before the game was incredible. Hannover turned completely red as it is both countries colour. Every where were people dressed up with painted faces, flags, jersey's and making noise. I had no ticket for this game and absorbing the pre-game festivities I had to get into that stadium as well. My first pickup was a Korean jersey for 30 euro's, which is cheap. My second was the ticket and that was not as easy as the first time. Many people were selling at ridiculous prizes: between 100 and 300 euro's for 30 euro tickets. In the end I found some Koreans that had to get rid of a ticket and we convinced them to sell it at 150 euro. Actually that prize was way too much, but I was determined to get in. I probably wouldn't find one cheaper anyway. This game I was seperated from my friend as well and ended up in the Swiss corner with my Korean jersey. I didn't really care and neither did they. I was cheering for both teams and jumped and partied with the people around me when Senderos headed in the winner. It would have been better to see the Koreans win, cus in that case my friend would have been much happier. On my way home I was still in awe about the whole World Cup experience. The Germans did a great job hosting it, the atmosphere was amazing and all I could have wished for. The only thing I have to improve about this is watch a Holland game next time.
I'm glad I made some nice Korean friends that showed me the Korean way of things. Included was a passion for football. The land that adores Guus Hiddink and brought the likes of Park Ji-Sung and Seol Ki-Hyun to Europe is a defenite stop at a future trip. I'll give kimchi another try then!