Thursday, May 28, 2009

Barcelona Wins...A Major Upset!

Remember how I asked where the Barcelona fans were the other day? Well they were at the Stadium and in my neighborhood.

The energy here was incredible. Was it just me or did it seem like most of the Italian fans were also rooting for Barcelona? If so, why?

Here is a great article and fantastic photo in the New York Times.

I noticed that most of the Barcelona fans were comprised of families. I saw many children sightseeing with their parents while wearing flags/team shirts.

I'm glad my "boyfriend" Mr. Henry was so happy. I forgot he was traded to Barcelona.

Manchester United fans have to be disappointed. All week I was reading/hearing how Manchester was going to kick Barcelona's butt. This surprised win caps a great year for Barcelona who also won the Spanish League.

The headline following headline from Reuter's made me chuckle:

Rome Confounds Critics With Smooth Champions League Final

Photo inside my local supermercato. The city banned selling of alcohol for 24 hours. Other then a few arrests, things went well.


Barcelona fans start to arrive early at Aristocampo, Campo dei Fiori.

13 comments:

erin said...

oh my gosh! That photo of the taped off wine shelves made me laugh so hard! Never thought I'd see something like that in Italy :)

Shelley - At Home in Rome said...

Hi there!! Just checking in on a rare baby free moment!! MISS YOU! So wanted to say, I actually don't miss soccer culture... kind of refreshing not to hear the score updates through the yelling the streets... however, I did think it was charming when I was living there (until Roma won then it just got obnoxious).

J,Doe said...

It's kind of sad that they had a city-wide ban on alcohol for 24 hours. Why are some calcio fans so violent? It's a shame that the state has to regulate even drinking because people can't handle themselves. I for instance love to drink wine with dinner and am not a soccer fan so would be inconvenienced a little bit, but I guess if it works and keeps soccer fans from their drunken vandalism then it was a good decision to ban alcohol.

Angie said...

Way to go Barca!!! On a side note-Barca plays the L.A. Galaxy (and the Seattle Sounders) in August. Are you a fan of the Galaxy--being from L.A.?

Eleonora Baldwin said...

I heard the Barcelona team is a curiously self-owned stock holding conglomerate of supporters. How cool is that. I'm glad they won, I like the coach, he looks young and enthusiastic. Plus any team that is not favored and plays a great game deserves to win. Go Barça!

Jen said...

I love these upsets.

And I love that Rome handled it all with aplomb!

Hope Detroit does the same on Saturday. Sigh.

Anonymous said...

Way to go Barcelona! I'll admit I watch soccer mainly to see guys in shorts. Is that bad?

Anonymous said...

Hey arlene,
That's not what I heard on NPR a while back .
They talked about how great the team from barcelona was, and how they beat up on mardrid back in spain . And how they were the team to beat because they were a new team put together from new guys, and how the coach was able to groom them, and manchester was this team put together with all these "superstars".
Like the NY Yankes .
I guess money can't buy you a winning team all the time?
and I think Detroit is going to do well they are the team to beat they have been there before, and we need something good to talk about in this town.
See you in a couple of months
I can't wait !
xo
ciao
DB

Anonymous said...

that should have read madrid lol my bad :-)

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

erin - I'm so glad I had my camera with me.

shelley - ciao!!! Roma had a terrible season this year so the yelling was kept to a minimum.

j. doe - I assume they were more worried about the visitors than the locals. You could still drink in restaurants and bars. The ban was on selling it in supermarkets to help cut back on people walking around getting plastered on the streets.

Angie - I'm from NYC/NJ not a fan of any of the L.A. teams. :) Will Beckham be back by then to play against Barca?

lola - this is their coach's first year. Can you believe that? What a great season they had.

jen - good luck on Saturday.

ms. violetta - oh it's not bad at all. It one of the reasons I love the "beautiful game" as well. heh

babyboy - here in Europe Man U was heavily favored to win. They were the defending champs and kicked butt in their own league. Barcelona was seen as the underdog. Barcelona has some big names as well, Henry (from Frence) Oto (Cameroon) and Messi (Argentina ..I think)

ieishah said...

barcelona's been crazy over the last few days. i'm not sure who was in rome, but hundreds of thousands of folks have been in the streets singing catalan nationalist songs like, 'burn madrid burn'. really hit home that barcelona (capital of catalonia) is not really spain... i felt oddly patriotic as well, and i've only been here 2 years!

on another note, why was berlusconi sleeping during the match??? we were highly offended!

Angie said...

Oh! My mistake! (Any NY Red Bull affection there?)
Beckham (I heard) is supposed to be playing with the Galaxy by July. So, I guess, he will also play in the exhibition match against AC Milan (in LA)...but who knows what will be true by July!

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

ieishah - he was? That is so wrong. Maybe he forgot to take a nap. Sigh.

angie - thanks for the info. I left NY 12 years ago so I know nothing about the Bulls. It's kind of sad how little I know about the American national team. I know who Donovan is but I follow the French and Italian teams. I really hope they do not play each other in next year's World Cup.