Thursday night my roommate Gina and I got to go to a soccer game in Lisbon. Pedro, one of the teachers at ICSC, is a big fan of the Sporting team and offered that Gina and I could go to a game with him. We had quite the adventure getting there. Traffic was worse than expected and we got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic about 2 km from the stadium. Once we made it near the stadium Pedro realized the Parking Garage he was planning to park in was not open any more - police were there not letting anyone enter. We were forced to follow the road back out toward the highway and away from the stadium. Pedro ended up parking the car up on the median at the side of the highway (a common thing to do in Portugal for soccer games, but Pedro never had before). It was only about 10-15 minutes to the start of the game so we jogged back towards the stadium along the main road. Of course our entrance was on the far side of the stadium from the way were were approaching! Here's one picture of the stadium I snapped on the jog there - that's why it's a little blurry!
Once we made it to the stadium there was a huge crowd of fans waiting to get it. We were shoulder to shoulder all pressed in trying to get access to the entrance. Twice different units of policemen all dressed up in their gear (complete with shields/helmets) pushed up the steps and tried to help direct the crazy mob. In the crowd fans would burst into the Sporting song - by the end of the night Gina and I could hum along! All the devoted Sporting fans wore their team scarf around their neck with the Sporting colors - green and white. Spain's team was red so Gina and I made sure not to wear anything red to the game! We finally made it into the stadium and found our seats.
We just missed the first few minutes as we made our way to our seats right about on the center line. The game was high energy the whole way through. The fans threw a flare onto the field at one point. You can see it in the picture above. A few minutes into the game Madrid scored the first goal. By the end of the first half the score was 1-1 and in the second half Madrid scored again followed by Sporting. The final score was 2-2. This was the second game of the match. The first had been played in Spain about 2 weeks ago with a score of 0-0. The away team gets the advantage for any goals scored not at home which is why Madrid won the match even though the score was tied. Leaving the stadium was much easier and less hectic. It was a fun experience and probably the largest stadium I've been in. I'm glad I had the chance to see a soccer game and the adrenaline rush was worth it (even though it took me a while to fall asleep that night)!
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