USA 1 -- Poland 0
So last week was quite an amazing week. My old buddy Steve Mraz and his wife Sarah live 20 minutes away from Kaiserslautern, Germany, where the U.S. men's soccer team was slated to play Poland. After the proper amount of teasing and taunting from Steve, I booked a flight for the morning of the game to go check out my very first U.S. game on foreign soil.
After arriving at Frankfurt Hahn airport, which absoultely the most remote airport I have ever seen, Steve and Sarah took me to lunch in K-Town (Kaiserslautern), where I sampled some tasty schnitzel and began waht Steve affectionately referred to as "a steady diet of German brews." We then walked the streets of K-Town for about five minutes before deciding it was far too cold to be out walking around in the cold. We had a few hours yet left to kill before the game, so we went back to Steve and Sarah's amazing home outside of town and relaxed for a while.
When it came time to set out for the game, we knew it was going to be freezing cold, but we had no idea what was in store for us. Properly outfitted in layers and layers of clothes, and with Steve clutching a not so tasty flask of Pushkin vodka, we caught the train back into K-Town. Upon arriving in K-Town we hit the beer stands as quickly as possible, bought a couple for the road and began the walk, I should actually say climb, up the rather sizeable hill to the stadium. Surrounded by a fair mixture of U.S. military personnel and flocks of singing Poles, the hike was quite entertaining.
A few moments before kick off, we settled into our seats and assessed just how cold we were going to be. Put it this way, I had four layers of pants on, and the seat, which had been exposed to the cold for the hours leading up to the game, pierced all my layers of clothing and chilled my buns straight away.
The first half of the game was honestly rather uneventful. Aside from Steve commenting repeatedly about how good one of Poland's players, "Mullet Boy," was playing, not much of mention really happened. The second half was when things went a bit nuts.
The snow began as mere flurries. Hardly noticable and not much of a distraction to the players or fans. The intensity increased a bit, until suddenly, about 20 minutes into the second half, the skies opened up and dumped nothing but white on everything. At one point, the entire crowd erupted in a roar over the simple thrill of being a part of the miserabley enjoyable conditions.
To top it all off, the U.S. got the victory on the back of an Eddie Lewis cross that took a couple of fortunate bounces before finding the foot of Clint Dempsey, who slotted it into the back of the net. I'm still not too sure Dempsey wasn't off-side, but hey, I guess Bruce Arena and the lads will take the wins when they can get 'em.
Enjoy the pics!
Steve pre-gaming at the train station.
Steve and I loving the atmosphere.
Steve and Sarah looking not too warm.
A look at the frosty field.
We had to stay warm somehow!
To illustrate just how much it snowed over the course of the second half. This is a pic of Steve and I hamming it up among FC Kaiserslautern's famous Starting XI statues outside the stadium before the game...
... and immediately after the game.
After arriving at Frankfurt Hahn airport, which absoultely the most remote airport I have ever seen, Steve and Sarah took me to lunch in K-Town (Kaiserslautern), where I sampled some tasty schnitzel and began waht Steve affectionately referred to as "a steady diet of German brews." We then walked the streets of K-Town for about five minutes before deciding it was far too cold to be out walking around in the cold. We had a few hours yet left to kill before the game, so we went back to Steve and Sarah's amazing home outside of town and relaxed for a while.
When it came time to set out for the game, we knew it was going to be freezing cold, but we had no idea what was in store for us. Properly outfitted in layers and layers of clothes, and with Steve clutching a not so tasty flask of Pushkin vodka, we caught the train back into K-Town. Upon arriving in K-Town we hit the beer stands as quickly as possible, bought a couple for the road and began the walk, I should actually say climb, up the rather sizeable hill to the stadium. Surrounded by a fair mixture of U.S. military personnel and flocks of singing Poles, the hike was quite entertaining.
A few moments before kick off, we settled into our seats and assessed just how cold we were going to be. Put it this way, I had four layers of pants on, and the seat, which had been exposed to the cold for the hours leading up to the game, pierced all my layers of clothing and chilled my buns straight away.
The first half of the game was honestly rather uneventful. Aside from Steve commenting repeatedly about how good one of Poland's players, "Mullet Boy," was playing, not much of mention really happened. The second half was when things went a bit nuts.
The snow began as mere flurries. Hardly noticable and not much of a distraction to the players or fans. The intensity increased a bit, until suddenly, about 20 minutes into the second half, the skies opened up and dumped nothing but white on everything. At one point, the entire crowd erupted in a roar over the simple thrill of being a part of the miserabley enjoyable conditions.
To top it all off, the U.S. got the victory on the back of an Eddie Lewis cross that took a couple of fortunate bounces before finding the foot of Clint Dempsey, who slotted it into the back of the net. I'm still not too sure Dempsey wasn't off-side, but hey, I guess Bruce Arena and the lads will take the wins when they can get 'em.
Enjoy the pics!
Steve pre-gaming at the train station.
Steve and I loving the atmosphere.
Steve and Sarah looking not too warm.
A look at the frosty field.
We had to stay warm somehow!
To illustrate just how much it snowed over the course of the second half. This is a pic of Steve and I hamming it up among FC Kaiserslautern's famous Starting XI statues outside the stadium before the game...
... and immediately after the game.
posted by Sean McMahon | 11:25 PM
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