LFC

It was ten years ago I think and I had no interest whatsoever in the game of football; Never watched football before nor had played it anywhere. My brother was watching a football match on TV and the teams that were playing were Liverpool and Manchester United. Manchester United wore red shirts and Liverpool green. Like any normal siblings, we always fought. My brother said he rooted for the red team and so I had to support the green team. Every time the ball went to Liverpool I screamed GOAL!!. The first half finished goal-less. It was starting to get boring.

Finally in the dying minutes, a Liverpool player was one-on-one with opposition goal keeper. He slotted it past the goal keeper. GOAL!!!. This time it was actually a goal. 1-0 the final scoreline. I was elated because the team I supported won. The man who scored was Michael Owen and ever since then I have been a Liverpool fan and Michael Owen was my childhood hero.

I then researched about Liverpool and came to realize what a rich history they had and were one of Europe's best. My favorite players are Gerrard, Owen, Alonso, Riise and Torres. My favorite goal is Steven Gerrard's goal against Olympiakos. My favorite matches are the 2005 finals against AC Milan and the FA cup final against West Ham. Through thick and thin times I have been a supporter of Liverpool and will always be. Red for Life.

FC Bayern München Vs India

Date : January 7, 2012

Place : Gurgaon
Time : 1600 hrs

It was a cold Saturday evening and a few friends of mine and I were strolling in the sector 22 market place. A fellow Liverpool supporter and a friend, Robins told that Bayern Munich(Germany's number 1 football club) was coming to Delhi to play with India in the honor of Baichung Bhutia(India's only football player whom everyone recognize) who was going to hang up his boots after that match. Once in a life time chance to watch world-class football live(for now). This should not be missed. So, I asked him to get the tickets. The match was going to be on January 10, 2011; a Tuesday.



It was not until Monday night, during a friend's birthday party that his friend got the tickets. We were all excited. It was a work day the next day and we had to take a leave.



Date : January 10, 2012
Place: Gurgaon
Time : 1100 hrs


I had a stomach bug and was not feeling too well. I called in sick. I really was sick !! The international auto expo was going on and another friend of mine, Roopan was really interested in going there. So, Robins and I decide tag along, catch the auto expo and then go to the match. Robins, Roopan, his friend and I took an auto to the metro station. We boarded the metro and went towards Rajiv Chowk, the metro station where they sold tickets for the auto expo.



Date : January 10, 2011
Place : Rajiv Chowk Metro, Delhi


It was around 12:30 when we reached there. The ticket counter line was long. When I say long, I mean the queue had around 150 to 200 people. They waited in line for a few minutes. Meanwhile, we were bird-watching. The line was not moving. The match was going start at 4 o clock. We could not wait there anymore. It would take an hour more to go to the auto expo venue and there won't be enough time to look around. So, Robins and I decided to part with Roopan and his friend. Robins got a call from his friend saying that the tickets were in his email and had to be printed!!!



Place : Connaught Place, Delhi
Time : 1300 hrs


We were starving and decided to eat something first at Connaught Place.. Connaught place is a posh area right outside the Rajiv Chowk Metro station. We had three things in our to-do list. Number one, satisfy our hunger. Number two, have the online tickets printed. We roamed around for a while and finally went to McDonald's. We got a meal each and started stuffing our mouth with the delicious burgers. McDonald's is all we could afford in that area :| The burgers were enough for us and we decided to leave half the fries on the tables. It was just too much. Number one, check.



Now we had to get the tickets printed. So many shops, not one was a web cafe. It was actually hot in the middle of the winter. I had my coolers on and my jacket off. We wandered from street to street, alley to alley, asking directions to the nearest web cafe. We finally found a shop where they took prints of all sort. An avaricious old man owned the shop. He charge us 20 Rs per paper. Robbery in broad day light. We had no time to argue. So we gave him the cash and headed back to the metro station where we met Robins' friend. We decided to get the Munich jerseys near the stadium if they had them.


Place: Nehru Metro Station
Time : 1530 hrs


We reached the Nehru metro station. People from all corners of the country had flocked in wearing their favorite football team jerseys and accessories. I had my Liverpool jersey and cap on. There was a stall that was giving tickets to those who registered online. We got the tickets there and it was a long march to the gate where we had to enter. Around 2 miles it was. The sun was becoming harsher. We met the other guy at the gates. I had my backpack with me. The security guard said "No Bags Allowed !" I asked him if there was any place where I could keep it. He said "NO!" I didn't know what to do. I stuffed all the things from my bag into my over-sized winter coat. All that was left in my backpack were a notebook, mobile chargers and data cable of my mp4 player. I left my bag behind some bushes right outside the gate and hoped it would not get stolen.


Place : Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi
Time : 1600 hrs


We found our block and good seats. The seats had to be dusted. Billions of space dust particles had settled down on the seats. Must have been ages since they were last cleaned. We cleaned and settled down in our seats. It was so exciting !!
My first ever football game live and I was going to watch Germany's best.


The first game was the youth cup between the red team and the black team. I though the red team was Bayern Munich's youth team. Then I saw the score board and realized that the match was between Delhi and Mumbai when I saw the scoreboard. We decided to root for Delhi. During the second half there was a loud cheer. I was puzzled. Noting exciting was going on in the field. Then I turned towards my left and it was Schweinsteiger coming out of the tunnel. Him and a few other Munich players. The two 20 minute halves went on without any goals and the game was decided by a penalty shootout. Delhi won 4-3.


Time : 1700 hrs


Munchen Vs India


After the first match got over, the Munich first team came out to a huge applause and roar from the audience. I could not believe my eyes. I was seeing Schweinsteiger, Robben, Lahm, Gomez, Neuer, Muller, Boateng.. with my naked eyes. Baichung Bhutia got some approval from the fans too. They were warming up. Everyone was in pairs, except for the Dutchman, Robben who was entertaining the crowd with his dribbling skills. There was then a performance from a German lady quartet. Three played the violin and the other the cello. They were pretty too. I was thirsty and went to get a pepsi. The canteen was maintained by one person and the customers were many. Many angry fans were not getting attended to. Finally i got a bottle of pepsi for rs. 100 ! I could hear the national anthems playing. I drank the whole bottle there. I was right on time for the kick-off.



The entire match was dominated by the German side. It was expected. The Germans broke the dead-lock within a few minutes when Mario Gomez slotted in past the Indian keeper. Then Muller quickly capitalized and extended the lead with a header from Robben's cross and brillant individual goal, a turn and volley. They were 3-0 up in half an hour. It was then Schweinsteiger's wonder goal. A long range shot from 25 yards out, right in the top-right corner. It went curling past the stranded keeper. He was rooted to the spot. The Munich side would have been more goals up if it wasn't for the indian keeper who made some pretty good saves.


The second half had no goals. But India finally made an attempt at goal. One shot at goal. That was all they had in the entire match. It was comfortably grabbed by Neuer, one of the best goal keepers in the world. There were no goals because all the goal scorers and the goal creators were taken off. Muller, Robben, Kroos, ... they were replaced by Olic, Pranjic,..
The Indians could not get past the German defense. Boateng and Badstuber were impeccable in their center half positions. Tymoschuk was all over the middle of the park. Attacking and defending. The Indians I think would have been happy with the 4-0 defeat and graceful that it was not a bigger margin. They did well the second half.


After the match got over, the entire German team split themselves into two halves and were running from one end of the field to the other. This went on for 30 minutes or more. A full 90 minutes of running and half an hour more! Were they men or machines? Did they have artificial lungs? The Indian team were crouched in one corner of the field and were panting.


It was time to go home. My bag was right were I left it. Behind the bushes opposite the gate where we entered. We took the long walk back to the metro and it was an one hour ride back home to Gurgaon. In my compartment there were 5 north east indians who were speaking in sign language. I spent 45 mins trying to make sense of what they were talking about. We reached Gurgaon. Took an auto to sector 22. Had two medium Pizzas at Papa John's and went back home.

Bye for now