Today Erica and I spent our one day in Milan which largely centered around the AC Milan vs Roma football match. We woke up early enough to get to the stadium 4 hours ahead of time to pick up our tickets. After picking up the tickets we walked around the stadium and looked at all of the merchandise and food stands and whatnot just to get the feel for a European sporting event. We still had plenty of time before the game started so we headed to Milan’s city center, where the Duomo is located. We took enough time to get some good pictures, eat our lunch and then head back to the stadium in time to take in some of the pregame festivities.
The match was truly an unreal experience. In Nebraska we have chants like “GO, BIG, RED”, here in Italy, and it seems in most of Europe, there is so much more to it. It seems as though each team has an endless arsenal of chants, I only wish I could understand what they were saying. The entire Milan side would chant in unison, pumping their fists together forward like a general making a “charge” call…the Roma fans would respond in kind, even though their numbers were much fewer because they were the away team. Flags waved and thousands cheered in unison throughout the entire 90 minutes of the match. Roma’s John Arne Riise struck first on a free kick following a penalty just meters outside the box; this was the only goal of the first half.
The second half, however, provided many more fireworks. Milan leveled the score at 1-1 when a cross into the box was fired by Pippo Inzaghi straight at the goalie, the shot was blocked but Mossimo Ambrossini got to the ball moments later and put the ball in the back of the net. This triggered an eruption like none I’d ever experienced in person at a sporting event. The entire second half Milan was on the attack, but one errant pass and a blink of an eye later Roma scored on a counter attacking making the score 2-1 in the 79h minute. Again Milan was able to level the score, this time only two minutes later, when a low cross into the box found Ambrossini who once again managed to find the back of the net. Unfortunately this would not be Milan’s day as they managed to give up another foul in prime position, once again just meters outside the box…this time Francesco Totti, Roma’s star player put the free kick around the Milan wall and by goalie Nelson Dida. Milan still threatened late, as Gianlucca Zambrotta dribbled his way into Roma’s box and was tripped, the ref did not make the call providing a penalty kick which resulted in a group of Milan players swarming the ref…this resulted in a red card for Ambrossini, Milan’s only goal scorer of the day. Milan lost 2-3, however the experience…absolutely incredible, totally worth it.
The other thing about this game that was truly special, was being there for the last home game of Milan’s captain, Paulo Maldini. Maldini has played for AC Milan his entire professional career which has spanned 25 seasons. Before the match he was honored and the opposing team even wore warm up shirts that read “Grazi Paulo.”
We left the stadium right as the referee blew the final whistle, headed back to our hostel with jus enough time to take a quick shower and catch a train to Brig, Switzerland, where we are now. I had the fortune of sitting next to someone from the area who spoke English, they let me know that Brig shuts down at night…she was right, it’s a good thing we had booked our hotel in advance or we’d be sleeping in the street. In fact, when we got to the hotel the door was locked and when we rang for reception, the manager spoke and told us our key was waiting for us on the reception desk. We’re safe and sound now and have a nice clean place to call our own for the night.
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