Royale Union Wallonie Ciney – Royale Union Saint-Gilloise (28-02-2015)

Given that we were parked so close to the stadium, we were out of Cologne in no time and had no problem making the 215 km (135 miles) trip to Ciney in Wallonia, the French speaking southern part of Belgium. We even had time to make a stop at Friture Gigi in Welkenraedt (near Liege) and get some much-needed coffee in Ciney itself.

Ciney is a small touristic town and the team was promoted to the Derde Klasse (Third Division) of Belgian football last year. The Stade J. Lambert is one of the cutest stadiums I have ever visited. The stadium was inaugurated in 1975 and holds 5.000 – although I didn’t see how they would ever fit in there.

The ticket office, and only entrance to the stadium, is at a dead end of a residential street. We bought tickets for 10 euro each after which we descended into the stadium, which lays below street level. This evening there are ca. 350 people, of which at least half are away supporters, who made the 87 km (55 miles) trip from Brussels.

 

Most of the home fans are older and local. The away fans are more mixed. There are some old, long-standing fans, but the majority are hipsters and students from Brussels, as Union has become a cult club among the more and less alternative (and affluent) youngsters in Brussels. At least the Union fans drum and sing, so that the game has a good atmosphere.

 

Union has a very young team with talented, but really short and egocentric players. They are the much better team, but their problematic mentality and lack of team spirit keeps Ciney in the game for the first 30 minutes.

In the 38^th minute Union has a good attack: the striker stops the ball at the penalty spot and places it cool in the upper corner: 0-1. This leads to much excitement among the loud away fans, including some fireworks.

Two minutes after the goal Union has another good chance, but this one goes just wide. For Ciney half time cannot come quick enough. Half time score: 0-1.

The second half starts with a surprise. In the 50^th minute a good attack by Ciney gets a lucky deflection in the box: 1-1. Five minutes later a great Union attack over left leads to a good cross and an excellent finish: 1-2.

Within five minutes the score is even 1-3. A good attack over right, after a long cross, is headed low, under the bad goalkeeper. Ciney respond with a good attack, but the header is bounced out of the goal by the goalkeeper and the rebound goes just wide.

The young Union players become even more egocentric, as they know Ciney has been beaten and it is even easier to score. Many chances are wasted. In the 83th minute a great Union counter is poorly controlled by the striker so that the Ciney goalie can get the ball. Just before the end of the game Ciney gets a penalty. When they hit the crossbar, it is clear that it is not to be. Union wins this game 1-3.

RUW Ciney is one of the cutest teams I have ever seen. Everything about it screams amateurs. They seem to enjoy their spell in the “big leagues”, knowing it cannot last. In fact, they are doing so well that they run the risk of getting promoted to the Second Division, which they will have to turn down, as their stadium is not up to those standards and a renovation would be too costly (and would kill this great groundhop destination).

SC Fortuna Köln – SV Stuttgarter Kickers (28-02-2015)

After the Patro Eisden MM game we had driven to Cologne to spend the night –which, with a slight delay because of GPS confusion, worked out well. We decided to drive early to the stadium to find a convenient parking spot. After parking the car opposite from the stadium, we took the tram into the city for some sightseeing.

At 13:45 we were back at the Südstadion (South Stadium), home of Die Fortunen, the second team of Cologne. The stadium is integrated into a residential area in (what used to be) the south part of the city. As we returned, it was lively around the stadium, particularly in front of the ticket offices, but more cosy than busy.

Going to the second, let alone third, team of a city is what groundhopping is all about. So, seeing a game between the second team of Cologne and the second team of Stuttgart was really the ultimate experience! Both are well-established teams in the lower leagues of German football, currently playing in the 3. Liga (third Division). After buying our (awesome) tickets, for 14 euro each, we joined the home fans at the uncovered standing-only tribune.

The Südstadion opened in 1979 and was renovated in both 2012 and 2014. It is a classic German stadium, with a track around the pitch, which can hold almost 15,000 people. According to the official game report there were 1,568 people at this particular game. Roughly 300 had made the 366 km (228 miles) trip north from Stuttgart.

The game starts quite furious, with good chances on both sides in the first two minutes. In the 5^th minute a good Fortuna counter is saved by the Kickers goalie. In the 19^th minute things go south for the home team: a defender looses the ball and fouls his opponent. Stuttgart converts the penalty: 0-1.

Despite several good chances Fortuna is unable to score a goal. In contrast, the Kickers sit back and counter. In the 40^th minute a good attack ends with a brilliant finish: 0-2. The fans around us increase their quite humorous sarcasm, while some still believe. One clearly hurt Fortuna fan asks rhetorically: “Man kann doch nicht gegen so eine Gurkentruppe verlieren” (One cannot really loose against such a group of pickles, can one?”). Half time score is 0-2.

During half-time several home fans tell us that this is the worst game of Fortuna Köln this season and that they are normally much better. We hope this is true, for them, as so far they haven’t been playing very well.

And the second half doesn’t get much better. For example, in the 62th minute the visitors easily cut through the home defense, but the shot is stopped by the goalkeeper.

As the complaints increase near the end of the game, and even the most hardcore optimists cannot see a way out, an easy counter of the Kickers leads to a shot that is deflected to the cross bar by the goalie. In the 85^th minute the hosts have their first good attack of the second half, but the striker hits the Stuttgart goalkeeper. Final score: 0-2.

Although we probably indeed saw the worst home game of the season, the experience did not disappoint. Somehow, the smaller club in the big city has the most authentic football atmosphere and SC Fortuna Köln is a good example of this.

Patro Eisden Maasmechelen – KFC Dessel Sport (27-02-2015)

Finding a club within three hours from Amsterdam, which plays on Friday night, and which neither my brother nor me hasn’t seen yet, is no easy feat. And yet, we found one: Patro Eisden Maasmechelen in the Belgian province of Limburg, only miles from both the Dutch and German border. Founded in 1935 the club was known as Patro Eisden until 1998, when it decided to add Maasmechelen to the name, to attract support from the broader region.

Patro Eisden MM plays in the Proximus League, i.e. the Second Division of Belgian football. Their home ground is the Patrostadion, a small new stadium, that opened in 2001, and has a capacity of 6,490. We arrive just in time for kick-off. After paying 10 euro for a (standard) ticket, and a quick snack at the snack cart, we join the home fans at the standing only stand.

There are ca. 800 people in the stadium, divided fairly equally across the two long side stands. The vast majority are men between 20 and 50, mostly local, and I have a hard time understanding their conversations. There are approximately 100 away supporters, who made the 72 km (60 miles) trip from Dessel.

The game is played at a rather slow pace and, in good Belgian fashion, both teams play fairly defensive. In the 10^th minute a corner by Patro is missed by three players and a weak shot goes just wide. Roughly ten minutes later a great shot is saved by a beautiful dive by the Dessel goalie.

Three minutes later a Dessel player walks for almost 30 meters without anyone pressuring him and shoots from 20 meters at goal. The ball has an odd bunce, which confuses the goalie, and it’s 0-1.

While the home fans around us softly display their disapproval, the game doesn’t change much. Pace and quality remain low and few chances are created on either side. A couple minutes before half time a shot by Patro from at least 20 meters goes virtually as far wide. Half time: 0-1.

 

Patro pressures a bit more in the second half. In the 53^rd minute a corner is beautifully headed into the goal: 1-1. Several minutes later a Patro attack with several good passes is finished with a hard shot that goes far wide.

The rest of the game does not lead to many more chances. Both teams are careful and tired and take very few chances. If there are some half chances, the lack of quality leads to some comedy capers, including an attack where several players hit over the ball. In the end, 1-1 is the best the two can do.

Patro Eisden Maasmechelen is an old-school small town team from a more rural area. The team is run by some rick local businessmen, most fans are local, and people are fairly appreciative of the little they have.

Maccabi Herzliya – Maccabi Ahi Nazareth (20-02-2015)

 

 

For business in Israel, I have a hard time finding reliable online information on football games in the country. In the end the English website of the Israel Football Association turned out to be very accurate and pointed me to a game in Herzliya, a relatively small beach town just north of Tel-Aviv.

Maccabi Herzliya plays in the Liga Leumit, the Second Division of Israeli football. They play their games in the Herzliya Municipal Stadium, a multipurpose stadium that holds 8.300. The dark concrete monstrum sits next to a brand new shiny mall.

As Shabbat starts at sundown on Fridays, this game starts at 14:00 on this chilly Friday afternoon. I pay 30 Shekel (ca. $7.50) for a ticket and enter the cold, concrete structure, after some serious security checks. The stadium feels like it’s at least 5-60 years old, but has only been opened in 1983.

There are ca. 115 people in the stadium, mostly working class males. There are few women and those there seem mostly related to the players. There is a small group of some 20 home fans with shawls and two drums who sing intermittently.

Segregated by several (private) security personnel are ca. 30 away supporters. The reason for the tight security and at times tense situation is that Maccabi Ahi Nazareth comes from a mostly Arab Israeli town and the fans are all Arab Israelis. All but one are male, mostly young, and very fanatic. They are at times calmed down by two older men; all away fans seem to know each other.

 

The pace of the game is slow and most players lack talent. There are few chances. In the 18th minute a good shot of Herzliya from just outside the box goes just wide. Seven minutes later a shot of the home team is stopped by a great tackle; the rebound goes over the goal.

 

In the 33th minute a free kick is headed in from approximately 8 meter: 1-0 for the home team. Three minutes later a nifty free kick puts a Nazareth striker alone before the Herzliya goalkeeper, but he fails to control the ball. Nothing much happens afterward. Half time score: 1-0.

After a boring half-time, without any entertainment, the second half starts with two very good chances for the visitors. In the 49^th minute a Nazareth defender blocks a great opportunity by the home team. The home fans get bored too, and I become quite the attraction among the older fans. A Dutch guy from the US at their little team!

In the 55^th minute, out of nowhere, the visitors score a controversial goal. I miss it, but people around me say the guy who scored from close range was offside. Two minutes later a big chance for the home team, but he shoots high over from 5 meters. The counter of the visitors goes nowhere because the striker mistimed his jump for a free header.

After several minutes of chances and half-chances Herzliya finally scores from a really good counter, in which the attackers outnumber the defenders, and the home team finishes solidly from 16 meter: 2-1. The game then gets restless, but slow pace means that not too many chances are created. Little do we know that the last fifteen minutes are going to be crazy. In the 74^th minute a Nazareth midfielder has the ball at the box, is not attacked, and his deflected shot puts the goalie on the wrong foot: 2-2. Two minutes later an excellent attack zooms passed the tired and unorganized home team and is well finished: 2-3. Finally, in the 90^th minute, a great counter brings more attackers than defenders before the Herzliya goalie and the striker with the orange shoes (who until then mainly annoyed me with his ‘I’m too good to be here’ act) scores in two times: 2-4.

 

The away fans go crazy and start to taunt the home fans, which leads to a response by the massive security presence – roughly 15 security people for 115 people. I leave the stadium just after they start to chant “allahu Akbar” and God responds with a heavy rain shower. All in all, this second division game was not so much different from my first division game at Hapoel Beer Sheva many years ago.