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| A whale in Plzen, yesterday. |
Where possible, I try to avoid situations which lead me to feel too self-conscious. Today, I failed.
Having just attended the tour of the Plzen Urquell brewery, replete with unpasteurised pilsner (ahhhh, the amber nectar), I passed the stadium on the way into town. Yes, I went a very circuitous route. As it was a couple of hours or so to kick-off, I thought I’d pop in and get my ticket early, job’s a good un. However, the main ticket office was closed, a note suggesting it was temporary. Nonetheless, I didn’t fancy waiting, so I headed towards a portacabin, and, here’s the clue – it was outside the away end.
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| 'My'kiosk. |
I think I startled the old guy in charge of ticket selling. He’d yet to get said tickets out of his brown leather satchel (stylish!) I’d been umming and arring where to sit. Should I go ‘large’ in the upper tier of the Big Stand, or a seat behind the goals? But this was quibbling between paying 120/150 CHK (£4/£5). So why not leave it to chance and see what I get?
I’ll tell you why not. You get a ticket in the away end, a team of minnows 4-0 down from the 1st leg, whose national sport is wife carrying. You will find yourself ON YOUR OWN at kick off time with the rest of the stadium wondering whothehell is loyal enough to make that sort of journey. I didn’t fancy having 9000-odd pairs of eyes on me (not that they were, but we all have a look at the away end to see how many they’ve brought, don’t we?) So, with the pick of the seats, I sat high up, 2nd row off the back. All the better for seeing the action at the far end.
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| The old terrace...directly behind one of the stands. |
Thank goodness then, after 5 minutes, I was joined in the away corner by someone else - a good looking lady in a bright orange dress. Dressed for the exec boxes, I’d have thought. Maybe Estonians have higher standards (probably!) Was she even a fan? It could have been the press officer for Viktoria for all I knew.
Kalju scored. ‘Quintieri’. Didn’t sound very Estonian to me. He turned out to be Italian, while elsewhere in the team there were 2 Japanese, a Gambian and the obligatory Brazilian. Who knew? Quintieri took a sharp pass on the edge of the apex of the 6 yard box and dragged the ball into the far corner. Shock.
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| Kalju's hardcore away support. |
It was all Plzen though and only poor shooting was preventing them from scoring. When playing sides much worse, teams forget the basics and think they can score from anywhere. Consequently, we had Viktoria players hitting the stand from all kinds of distances.
The equaliser, about 20 minutes in, came from nothing. A harmless cross was gathered at the near post by the Kalju keeper. ‘Penalty’ said the ref. I guess some idiot shoved a Viktoria player right in front of him, though protests suggested otherwise.
Resistance was broken and Viktoria were 2-1 up at the break with an OUTSTANDING hit. The ball was rolled in from the right and the Plzen player let the ball go across him before rifling it into the top corner with his left. I was right behind it – the keeper never stood a chance.
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| The view to my left. |
At half-time I trotted to the loo (another lonely experience) before I met Kalju’s other fan on the stairs. We got chatting and it turned out, quite by coincidence, that she’d been sent to a conference in Plzen that very week. If only she’d found out about the game sooner, I suspect she’d have been in the VIP section – she knew the club’s owner. His usual business apparently is club owner (a nightclub; it didn’t sound like his business stretched that far). So, we sat together in the second half. She hadn’t joined me when she came in cos she could tell I wasn’t Estonian – while I was thinking she hadn’t joined me cos SHE wasn’t Estonian. Surely, if she was, she’d come and join her fellow brethren.
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| The cleanest half time toilets I've ever seen. |
Kalju were terrible. During the 2nd half they tried ever more resourceful ways to concede goals and lost 6-2. At least I’d seen some goals. The one I remember best was either a classy finish, or was completely telegraphed seconds before he hit the ball. The pass was laid back to him, 25 yards out, and with defenders in front of him he curled the ball in with his left peg. Nice finish,but avoidable. Worse, this player didn’t look a pound under 16 stones. Think Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock. The way he celebrated suggested he didn’t get many.
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| The stand to my right (the old chunk of terrace is behind this). |
The Plzen fans left happy. I was expecting a very small crowd tonite, but they turned out in numbers. Many of the empty seats were behind the goal, suggesting a lot of fans wanted to avoid the ultras, who perhaps numbered 500 directly behind one net. It was another decent atmosphere for the most part (urged on by a man with a drum) with most of the stadium clapping in kind to certain chants. And what do you do when you’re winning THIS easily? That’s right, get the Mexican Wave going. I think they'd done this before, cos when it got to the away end, the wave didn’t ‘jump’ past us, but turned back on itself. A neat idea to stop any visiting fans spoiling the fun. Oh, and on a miscellaneous note, Plzen use the same music as Norwich City to celebrate a goal. Go Delia!
Attendance: 9,482 (Doosan Arena)
The Damage:
CHK 120 (£4) ent
Tunes:
Lunatico (Gotan Project)
Aman Iman: Water is Life (Tinariwen)
The Best of… (Hardfloor)
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| Main ticket office (closed). |
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| Match prices. |
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| Main Stand |
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| Back of stand opposite Main Stand. |
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| Welcome to... |
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| Main Stand |
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| U Sektor. |
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| Its not often I see a climbing wall outside a stadium... |
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| ...let alone beach volleyball. |
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| back of Main Stand |
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| The old terrace and back of stand |
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| Champions! |
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| The Doosan by night. |
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| Match action |
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| The Perfect Czech meal...unfiltered Pilsner Urquell |
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| ..with goulash in bread. Love it! |
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