Football Frenzy and Canada Day, Part II

---

Last year's visit to Vancouver for the Canada Day long weekend (Football Frenzy and Canada Day) was so much fun, I decided to do it again. And wouldn't you know it--there was more football to be seen. This time, it was the FIFA U20 World Cup, and we had tickets to a double-header in Burnaby, on Canada Day.

Last year on the way out, I saw a truck at the airport get stuck under the wing of a plane. No such drama while waiting for my flight this year, or so I thought. The plane was just getting ready to leave the gate, when the pilot announced the airport was in red alert, and the plane wasn't going anywhere. There was a severe thunderstorm directly overhead, so no planes could take off or land, and all the ground crew had to go inside the airport. I watched the storm from the window, and it was like looking at an abandoned airport. There wasn't anything going on. After about twenty minutes, the storm had passed through, and we could take off.

The football was good. The first match was Zambia-Jordan. It was a good match, ending in a 1-1 draw. There were yellow cards, red cards, penalty shots, and of course carnage (most of it fake). The second match was Spain-Uruguay--another good game ending in a 2-2 draw. In the second half of the second game, someone came along to tell us we were sitting in her seats. Turns out we were in the wrong section, but I can't believe the other people bothered to show up that late, and then turf us from the seats when there were other seats around in the same section. Still, the move ended up being a good one--our proper seats were surrounded by passionate Latin American fans.

The most amusing part of both games was watching the young players trying to draw penalties. They haven't quite figured out how to fake an injury yet, so they were quite melodramatic. Even their own loyal fans were getting annoyed with the theatrics.

After the match, we took the Sky Train back into downtown Vancouver, then the Sea Bus over to Lonsdale Quay, in North Vancouver. We had an excellent dinner at an English pub, and then settled in to watch the Canada Day fireworks. Vancouver actually had their own fireworks this year, co-ordinated with the North Van/West Van fireworks. So there were two barges in the water, and we had a much better view of the fireworks than last year. Plus, I got to try out my new Gorillapod, which I love.

I've already looked up the Euro Cup schedule for 2008, and the final will be played on June 29. It won't be on a long weekend, but I may have to take a day or two off to head to Vancouver for Football Frenzy and Canada Day, Part III.

---

Photos

I love soccer...
Can you guess the body part?

Sisters
My sister Joanne (on the left)

First goal of the game
The ball is about to roll past the Jordanian keeper, who went the wrong way.

First goal
Uruguay have just scored the first goal of this match.

Comments

[Crazy Canucks]

Firework Pics
Thanks for the great pics of fireworks - Cheers.