Schweiz v Deutschland Fußball
Last Wednesday Matt and I took an hour train ride from Zürich to the Stadium of St. Jakob in Basel. We had purchased tickets for the sell out fussball (soccer) game to see Switzerland's team Hopp Schwiiz play against Germany.
We tried to get tickets for Euro 2008 when they went for raffle last March of 07 but had no luck. Seeing a soccer game, especially with the Swiss team playing, was something that seemed like a cultural must for us before we move back home. It was just icing on the cake to see Germany, the much hated rivals of Switzerland as the match up.
While Germany was favored to win, it was quite the blow for Switzerland as their self admitted "amateur" play led them to their 4th straight loss. Three of the things that struck me about the game:
1) The groups of fans that chanted and sang essentially throughout the entire game.
2) The amount of security on the field and especially over in the section where the German fans were was much higher then I'm used to seeing at other professional sporting events. They even put in security gates around the German section and Matt joked about how they were being caged.
3) The public transportation to and fro the event couldn't have run more smoothly. They put extra trains on the lines, included time table pamphlets on the seats in the train so you could determine the approriate return train, and had swarms of helpers in neon vests helping people along. The pamphlets included 4 to 5 different departure times for 5 major cities across Switzerland. It was remarkable.
Some fun facts I found at swissinfo.org:
**The last Swiss victory against Germany (3-1 in Frankfurt) dates back to November 21, 1956.
**April 5, 1908 in Basel: Switzerland beat Germany 5-3 in the first game for Germans after the creation of the German Football Association.
**June 27, 1920 in Zurich: The Swiss 4-1 victory was the first game played by Germany after the Second World War.
**December 19, 1990 in Stuttgart: Germany beat Switzerland 4-0 in the first game for the Germans after reunification.
St Jakob Arena in Basel
Our view of the Hopp Schwiiz team getting their booties kicked
Despite the dismal failure, the crowd still enthusiastically waved the Swiss flags that had been placed in every seat in the stadium. We came home with 8 of them with plans to hang them out our window during Euro 2008.
We tried to get tickets for Euro 2008 when they went for raffle last March of 07 but had no luck. Seeing a soccer game, especially with the Swiss team playing, was something that seemed like a cultural must for us before we move back home. It was just icing on the cake to see Germany, the much hated rivals of Switzerland as the match up.
While Germany was favored to win, it was quite the blow for Switzerland as their self admitted "amateur" play led them to their 4th straight loss. Three of the things that struck me about the game:
1) The groups of fans that chanted and sang essentially throughout the entire game.
2) The amount of security on the field and especially over in the section where the German fans were was much higher then I'm used to seeing at other professional sporting events. They even put in security gates around the German section and Matt joked about how they were being caged.
3) The public transportation to and fro the event couldn't have run more smoothly. They put extra trains on the lines, included time table pamphlets on the seats in the train so you could determine the approriate return train, and had swarms of helpers in neon vests helping people along. The pamphlets included 4 to 5 different departure times for 5 major cities across Switzerland. It was remarkable.
Some fun facts I found at swissinfo.org:
**The last Swiss victory against Germany (3-1 in Frankfurt) dates back to November 21, 1956.
**April 5, 1908 in Basel: Switzerland beat Germany 5-3 in the first game for Germans after the creation of the German Football Association.
**June 27, 1920 in Zurich: The Swiss 4-1 victory was the first game played by Germany after the Second World War.
**December 19, 1990 in Stuttgart: Germany beat Switzerland 4-0 in the first game for the Germans after reunification.
St Jakob Arena in Basel
Our view of the Hopp Schwiiz team getting their booties kicked
Despite the dismal failure, the crowd still enthusiastically waved the Swiss flags that had been placed in every seat in the stadium. We came home with 8 of them with plans to hang them out our window during Euro 2008.
posted by Jill Nachtman at 6:32 PM
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