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The road to European glory is seldom smooth. Chelsea's defence of their Champions League trophy came well and truly off the rails somewhere in the Group phase, leaving only the Europa League to aim for. Roman was less than impressed and wielded his customary axe. If only he knew how some of us used to dream of just seeing the club play a game in Europe, let alone win anything. Too young by a million miles to be in Athens in 1971, the journey never looked like coming around again and probably hit a personal rock bottom for me with a 7-2 defeat at Middlesbrough.........just as I was getting access to some money to go to a few games .......... and then another relegation at the hands of you've guessed it - Middlesbrough.
A lot of water has passed under the bridge ....... pardon the pun ............ since the heady night in Stockholm, when the diminutive Zola came off the bench to exceed the dream. I am no longer a regular – about as interim as the Manager - this would be only my 2nd Chelsea match in 10 years.
The National Express inexplicably headed towards the A453 in
rush hour. The weather was appalling! There were reports of the MI being closed near Leicester. It was obvious - take the A46. Was the driver new? Should we point out the error of his ways? The coach ground to a halt outside Clifton and went very little further in the next hour. Hope was abandoned! The prospect of all night on a coach had never been too appealing, but it was looking pretty good now that the chances of getting acquainted with French and Belgian railway timetables was looking an increasing possibility.
The MI finally loomed. Progress was swift, as traffic was light. The other road users had clearly abandoned the M1, after news of it's closure. The realistic chances of catching the overnight MegaBus remained slim, but at least we were moving. The chances would be improved, if we skipped the stop at Milton Keynes. We didn't! Another 10 minutes gone. The nightmare of all nightmares ensued. As we headed south on to the motorway, the coach driver took a call. You've left one behind - can you come back? If the other passengers had been consulted, Mr Missing Passenger would be walking to London. Unfortunately to
our horror, we did a U turn at the exit junction and headed back north. The MegaBus would be long gone by the time we reached Victoria. We had little to lose on arrival by swiftly relocating to departures in the vain hope that the Amsterdam express was still in residence. It was! The service had been similarly delayed on it’s journey south. We checked in. After a minor disagreement between driver and the boys on the back row about the law where alcohol consumption on the bus was concerned, we set off on the next leg at 10.00 pm.
The journey was fairly uneventful. The coach was quiet, as was the onward ferry to Calais. There was a huge sense of relief, that the connection had been made. I even had some sleep. We rocked into the driver transfer point on the outskirts of Ghent and then into the centre of a grey early morning in downtown Brussels. The Godiva chocolate factory and shop were noted for future reference. The motorway network was at it’s usual busy level as we headed to Amsterdam. Fortunately, the queues were Rotterdam bound. Rotterdam works, Amsterdam plays ………….. controversial, but possibly true!
In contrast with the Brussels bound passengers who are dropped off in the centre of town, the Amsterdam arrival point is a Park n Ride at Zeeburg. It sounds worse than it is and the frequent Tram 26 speeds you to the Central Station inside 15 minutes.
After a 16 hour coach trip, we did what most tourists do! Rijksmuseum? Anne Frank House? Red light district? Coffee shop? No, too logical ....... a mini tour of the non-league grounds of Amsterdam! The 24 hour tram card in hand ...... best value in Amsterdam ........... we headed for AVV Zeeburgia and the delights of Eerste Klasse. The Sportpark Middenmeer (capacity: 3,500) lies in the sports complex, nestled near the Science Park in south east Amsterdam. In truth, there wasn’t too much of interest apart from the barrel roofed Ton Betrand Tribune. The word Zeeburgia is inscribed on the rear of the roof facing the main road, although it is doubtful whether too many notice. A club house and changing room complex lies behind the left goal nearest the railway line, with a terrace opposite. A sign attached to the fence advertises the upcoming play-off game versus FC Boshuizen-3
Euros entry. It ended in tears with a 3-1 home defeat – a 0-4 defeat in the 1
st Leg didn’t help. I note from their website that the recent AGM ended similarly and was cancelled under club rules due to it’s low attendance.
A 10 minute walk down Kruislaan leads you to JOS Watergraafsmeer...... basically the Youth Organisation of Sport from the district of Watergraafsmeer. The club has been around since 1920. The Sportpark Drie Burg (Capcity: 1,000) gives no clue that this is the club where one of the greatest coaches of world football cut his teeth in the early 1960's. The coach was none other than Rinus Michels between 1960 and 1964. At the time, JOS were a feeder club for Ajax and the young coach forced into early retirement from his playing career developed his theories of Total Football, before heading off to create the all-conquering football dynasty that became the Ajax of Cryuff, Neeskens et al. History comes at a price. JOS play at the same Eerste Klasse level as Zeeburgia, but charge 4 Euros. I am not sure if they follow the Total Football philosophy, but they suffered the same fate as Zeeburgia
Benfica Fans 3
Where did it go wrong?in their play off – a draw on aggregate with SC Feyenoord, but a 5-4 loss on penalties.
The next port of call was Amsterdamsche FC. Amsterdamsche 1895. Older than Ajax – this is no nursery club. A short walk behind the Zuid Station, the Sportpark Goed Genoeg (Capacity: 8,000) was a hive of activity compared to our other venues. School kids of various ages were busy playing on the training pitches, leaving the main stage for our wander round. This was a Top Klasse club and the tidiness of the ground reflected their status. The Tommy Hilfiger Main Stand housed the club trophies in the window. A new tribune with an interesting arc roof design nestles opposite. A sign proclaimed "Keep Smiling" above the entrance to the pitch. A man – presumably involved with the club in some way - walked his Alsatian on the pitch. The corporate HQ of ABN Amro towered above the setting. The office of one of the club offices slid open. Our presence had not gone un-noticed. The guy slipped effortlessly into English as the Dutch do and enquired as to our motives. I queried who the main sponsor was that had been
funding the improvements. There had apparently been no money from the corporate giant across the road. We are not Ajax, he added thoughtfully! Too old! There was no really famous connection here, although it was the first club of John Bosman who we'd all know a lot better had he not been behind Marco Van Basten in the Dutch national pecking order. Stanley Menzo, ex-Ajax goalkeeper, was coach between 2003 – 2005.
I had been looking forward to visiting the Olympic Stadium, but it didn’t really live up to expectation. My travel companion has visited for an Ajax European tie in the days of De Meer, but the stadium is now being re-modelled to host the 2016 European Athletics Championships. The capacity is now a much reduced 16,000 and seldom used - for football or any other reason. A few Benfica fans were busy visiting the venue of their 1962 European Cup win over Real Madrid. The first Final of the young Eusebio.
The security man blocked our entrance on to the pitch. You cannot cross this line! We retreated into the Museum, which at 6 Euros was a disappointment. There
was a collection of athletics memorabilia - Fanny Blankers-Koen's spikes, Olympic posters throughout history etc., but no significant mentions of Ajax's European exploits in the stadium before they jumped ship to the ArenA. We went back outside to renegotiate entry into the Stands for some photographs. This time Mr Security Man was in a better mood, aided by a translation from one of the girls out of the Museum. Just 1 photograph. I took 14 to be on the safe side. Alas the views were somewhat obscured by a development of portakabins on the edge of the pitch. I have subsequently discovered that it was for a FIFA certification of a goal line technology system - GoalRef - to be used in the AEGON Copa Amsterdam Youth Tournament at the Stadium between 18 and 20 May. Chelsea were in town for this one too – Chelsea Ghana!!
http://www.copa-amsterdam.nl/ It was time to find the hotel. The city was filling up with fans for the match. The Hotel Y Boulevard was convenient. There was little else to recommend it. Why? A very appropriate word in the title, when you are considering your accommodation choices. We checked in and then
Amsterdamsche FC
This is not Ajax! headed out on to the streets to savour the atmosphere. We cut through the Red Light district towards Dam Square. The windows were the same as ever. Chelsea were in control of all the drinking venues. Dam Square was boisterous, but the atmosphere was fairly good natured. It apparently didn’t stay that way! We headed for a random restaurant away from the crowds and settled on Sie Joe, a non-licenced Indonesian guaranteed not to attract those merely to drink their way to victory. Fed and watered, we headed back up to the Central Station to catch a metro to Bijlmer. The Police had cordoned off the metro at Nieuw Market with an electronic arrow pointing all towards Central Station, so it was clearly going to get busy.
The ArenA looms large from the metro station, although all signs of Ajax had been obliterated in favour of the UEFA corporate sponsor brands. The Benfica fan park was in full swing with some obscure music booming out from a distant stage and opportunities for you to visit the world of HTC and Hankook. In contrast, the Chelsea zone was largely empty and surrounded by high fences to reflect more of a
AVV Zeeburgia
The Ton Betrans Stand containment zone than a place to party. After a few sweeps of the ground, we retreated into the adjacent shopping centre to get the panorama photos that the roof of the multi-level car park provided.
And so to the match ………. Benfica fans made a colourful display to our left …. Lots of red, banners, flags and a token flare or two that the Ultras had managed to sneak past the non-existent bag searches. Chelsea made a miserable a response with a large flag. Perhaps there would have more of an effort for the Champions League Final? The game revealed Benfica as by far the better team, especially in the 1
st half. Chance after chance was squandered. It could have easily been 3 by half time. Too much tip tap football and no clinical finishing. Chelsea made more of a fist of it in the 2
nd half and capitalised on a mistake to go 1-0, after a remarkably composed Torres rounded the keeper to slot home. A blatant hand ball set up the equaliser from a penalty. Frank keen to secure that contract, rattled the cross bar with a shot from distance. Extra time seemed favourite, until Ivanovic met
a corner with a far post header that looped over Artur in the Benfica goal and back into the near corner. Job done…… well not quite, there was still time for Benfica to fail with another gilt edged chance. JT got stripped, to much subsequent criticism from the British press, but Frank got his hands on the trophy as captain for the night. The interim one got his hands on another trophy for his CV.
My 2
nd Chelsea game in 10 years was over. My 2
nd Chelsea European trophy. A couple of pints were savoured to celebrate. Was I tempted back or was it just an interim visit? There was a short night’s sleep and another 16 hours on a coach to ponder the question. We caught this one without drama.
Appendix Chelsea
(4-2-3-1): Cech; Azpilicueta, Cahill, Ivanovic, Cole; David Luiz, Lampard (c); Ramires, Mata, Oscar; Torres.
Unused subs Turnbull, Ferreira, Ake, Mikel, Benayoun, Marin, Moses.
Scorers Torres 59, Ivanovic 90+2
Booked Oscar 13.
Benfica (4-1-3-2): Artur; Almeida, Luisão (c), Garay (Jardel 77), Melgarejo (John 65); Matić; Salvio, Peréz; Gaitán; Rodrigo (Lima 65), Cardozo
Unused subs: Paulo Lopes, Urreta, André Gomes, Aimar.
Scorer Cardozo 67
pen.
Booked Garay 45, Luisao 61
Referee Björn Kuipers from the Netherlands.
Crowd : 46,163
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Dancing Dave
David Hooper
THANK YOU
I missed this game at the stadium that is my loungeroom. Bought a plasma TV for two World Cups ago. Watch the Premier League Highlights every Monday night during the season. Saw Man U -v- Chelsea in a backyard pub in Tanzania. Saw Wigan win the FA Cup a few weeks back...ecstacy for me as they are my team being the inspirational underdogs for the last 8 years...sadness they were relegated...hope Martinez stays but won't hold my breath. But missed Chelsea -v- Benfica in the Europa Cup Final...only saw Ivanovic's winner on the News. Thanks for reporting the game and for the tour of the grounds...not every day you tour the grounds. Definitely a soccer tragic's tour...but what the heck...someone's gotta do it!