Hardy(T)'s World Soccer
Diary
Hardy(T)'s World Soccer
Diary
| TSV 1860 München 2 | VfB Stuttgart 5 |
| Winkler, Pelé |
Hagner, Elber 2, Soldo, Bobic |
Venice
hadn't been bad enough (no seats available, I had to stand in a corridor
with two mad Nürnbergers drinking cheap Italian wine all night) I
foolishly arranged an alcoholic breakfast at the Hofbräuhaus as a
warmup for the evening's visit to the Oktoberfest. Several Steins of Naß
and a huge plate of Kampfnudel later, I'm walking (staggering) the streets
of Munich in search of some football action. This, it turns out, is to
be had at the Olympiastadion, the magnificent home of both Bayern and their
less illustrious neighbours TSV 1860. Today Munich's poor relations are
playing host to VfB Stuttgart.
A short ride on
the Metro, filled with noisy and colourful fans of both teams, takes me
to the Olympic complex, built for the ill-fated 1972 Games, where I get
my fist glimpse of the stadium's famous hi-tech roof. I'm lucky to get
a ticket as the 64,000 capacity stadium is nearly sold out 30 minutes before
kick-off. I take my place half-way up the West stand and soak up the atmos.
The home fans are noisy enough, but the Stuttgarters must rate as having
the highest noise level per capita of any set of travelling fans I've ever
heard. And there are a fair few of them - at least 5,000 have made the
journey.
TSV take the lead
through Winkler after 11 minutes. This is the cue for the home fans to
my left to unfurl the most enormous banner - an entire section of the North
terrace is suddenly lost beneath a giant Löwenbräu lion. Their
joy is shortlived, however, as VfB equalise and then take the lead ten
minutes later. The visitors totally dominate the second half, the Brazillian,
Elber, in particular, having an excellent game. Ghana's Abedi Pele scores
a spectacular late consolation for the home side, but the score could have
been a lot more embarrassing than 5-2 in the end. The win takes Stuttgart
to the top of the Bundesliga. Feeling sorry for 1860, I buy myself an excellent
Tatzen (lion's paws) Power T-shirt and head back into the Theresienwiese
to join the thousands of Aussies and Kiwis drinking themselves into oblivion
at the Oktoberfest. It's a hard life being a roving soccer reporter you
know...