GERMANY vs AUSTRALIA

Stadion im Borussia-Park (Capacity: 46.287 for internationals)

Germany vs Australia (1:2) (International Friendly, 29. March 2011)
M. Gomez 1:0 (26.), D. Carney 1:1 (61.), L. Wilkshire 1:2 (64.)

Attendance: 30.152
Cost: 20 Euro
Programme: Aktuell (Free)

 

Outside view of the stadium

 

Our entrance

 

GOOAAAALLLLL.............or Beer. I'll have 2 of both please

 

Jackos 3rd Socceroos game in
Germany and his first win.

 

Home of Borussia Moenchengladbach

 

The Aussie team warming up

Pre match entertainment

 

And we have kickoff

 

Germany on the attack early in the first half

 

Australia's second goal from Wilkshire

 

The Deutschland team mascot!

 

Free kick and win to Australia!!!!!!!

 

CLUB HISTORY: (wiki)
The German national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association (Deutscher Fußball-Bund), which was founded in 1900.
From 1950 to 1990, it was more or less the team of West Germany[4] as the DFB is based in Frankfurt, located in the former West Germany. Under Allied occupation and division, two other separate national teams were also recognized by FIFA: the Saarland team (1950–1956) and the East German team (1952–1990). Both have been absorbed along with their records (caps and goal scorers) by the current national team. The official name and code "Germany FR (FRG)" was shortened to "Germany (GER)" in 1990.
Germany is historically one of the three most successful national teams at international competitions, having won a total of three World Cups and three European Championships. They have also been runners-up three times in the European Championships, four times in the World Cup, and further won four 3rd places. East Germany won Olympic Gold in 1976. Germany is the only nation to have won both the men's and women's World Cups. Germany rivalries include England, Netherlands, and Argentina.

HONOURS:
FIFA World Cup Champions: 1954,1974, 1990
FIFA World Cup Runners Up: 1966, 1982, 1986, 2002
EURO Champions: 1972, 1980, 1996
EURO Runners Up: 1976, 1992, 2008

STADIUM HISTORY: (wiki)
Borussia-Park in Mönchengladbach is the home stadium of German football Bundesliga team Borussia Mönchengladbach. It replaced the smaller Bökelberg stadium, which no longer satisfied modern safety standards and international requirements, in July 2004.
Borussia-Park has a capacity of up to 54,057, of which 16,145 are standing-room only due to popular demand. For international games, the standing room is converted into temporary seating for a total seating capacity of 37,912.
The new stadium features amenities such as VIP lounges, fanshop, bar and museum, and cost 85 million euro to construct.
Despite its large capacity and relative youth, the stadium missed out on holding matches during the 2006 World Cup, which Germany hosted. It was the largest capacity Bundesliga stadium to do so.

BFC Dynamo

Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark (Capacity: 19.708)

BFC Dynamo vs Berlin Ankaraspor Kulübü 07 (2:1 a.e.t) (Berliner Pilsner Pokal 5th Round, 23. March 2011)
0:1 P.F. Azad (4.), 1:1  F. Karaduman (90 + 2.), 2:1 N. Lemcke (118.)

Attendance: 778
Cost: 8 Euro
Programme: Stadionkurier (1.50 Euro)

There were almost as many police as fans at the game!

Nice view of the stadium at dusk

The main grandstand

Plenty of merchandise on sale

Doing it for Japan!

BAK celebrating after opening the scoring in the
4th minute

BAK on the attack again

The ball boys were loving it!

Players down everywhere in the second half

Dynamo on the attack in search of an equaliser

Dynamo players celebrating with the fans after sending
the game into extra time with a goal seconds before
the full time whistle

CLUB HISTORY: (abseits guide to soccer)
Where to start? This is undoubtedly the most hated team in Germany, and perhaps the world. And yet, this club dominated East German soccer, winning the title 10 years in a row 1979-1988. The problem is, they cheated. Dynamo was the team of the Staatssicherheit, the Stasi, the hated GDR secret police. As a result, they manipulated results and otherwise cheated to win the titles. No wonder!

From 1954-66, the club was simply known as Dynamo Berlin. The club was officially founded as BFC Dynamo in 1966, and really didn't do much until the late 1970s. Despite being the official club of the secret police, apparently the club was allowed to play on it's own terms. However things started going crooked once Erich Mielke, the head of the Stasi, decided that he wanted championships. So whenever they needed a result, they got it. Losing the game? Have the ref call a "penalty." Need another player? Have him transferred to BFC Dynamo. It's not surprising that the club proved unstoppable. Title after title followed. Fans throughout the GDR expressed their hatred to BFC Dynamo, but were forced to grin and bear it.

After reunification, the ties to the Stasi were obviously cut, and a newly constituted FC Berlin was formed in 1990. Obviously, the burden of history was a hard thing to live down. Management attempted to emphasize youth soccer and get away from the disgraceful past of the club. Despite a concentration on youth teams, encouraging fun and fair play, the change was hardly accepted.

In May 1999, the members voted to bring back the old name BFC Dynamo. Some of the reasons were to "capture the glorious past" and attract more sponsors. I guess they figured they couldn't pull the wool over anybody's eyes anyway.

The 1998-99 season was uneventful, as FC-Dynamo ended up midtable. Nevertheless, this really was their best showing since GDR days. However, the next season turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. By mid campaign the team went into a tailspin and never recovered. The goal of reaching the new combined Regionalliga was never even threatened, and in fact they would have been relegated regardless. While most other ex-GDR teams gleefully gloated, Dynamo had to regroup one division lower. That they did, winning the Oberliga. However, they crashed out in the promotion playoffs, and in any case, announced that they didn't have the financial resources to pursue promotion anyway.

During the 2001-02 season, BFC Dynamo was forced into bankruptcy proceedings. All league games were therefore annulled and the club was automatically relegated. However, the federation also took the bizarre decision to force BFC to play out it's remaining games as "mandatory friendlies." Since all player contracts were disolved, all the first team players left the club. The 2nd team was in a battle to stay in the Landesliga, so it was kept intact. Therefore the 3rd team took over the 1st team duties, and was soon losing these games by scores of 11-0 etc. Why this travesty was allowed is unclear, although perhaps the rest of the eastern clubs saw an opportunity to exact some revenge, however minor.

HONOURS:
* DDR-Oberliga: 10 (Record)
o Winners 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988
o Runners-up 1960, 1972, 1976, 1989
* FDGB-Pokal: 3
o Winners 1959, 1988, 1989
o Runners-up 1962, 1971, 1979, 1982, 1984, 1985
* GDR Supercup: 1
o Winners 1989
* Berlin Cup: 1
o Winners: 1999
o Runners-up 2000
* NOFV-Oberliga Nord: 2
o Winners 1992, 2002
* Verbandsliga Berlin: 1
o Winners 2004


STADIUM HISTORY: (wiki)

The Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark is a sports site built in 1951, in the Prenzlauer Berg district of Berlin. In the south it borders on the Eberswalder Straße, in the north on the Max Schmeling Halle, in the west on the Mauerpark, where part of the Berlin Wall once stood. It includes a football and athletics stadium as well as several smaller sports fields. The stadium is the second largest in the city after Berlin's Olympiastadion with 20,000 seats (15,000 covered) and is used by football sides Hertha BSC II, Berliner FC Dynamo and Turkiyemspor Berlin.

From 1963 to 1989 the facility hosted the Olympic Day of Athletics competition modelled on a similar event staged each year in West Berlin. The meet saw the setting of several world records including Uwe Hohn's record javelin throw of 104.80 meters on 20 July 1984 – the first time a throw of over 100 meters was made.

East German first division clubBerliner FC Dynamo played its DDR-Oberliga home fixtures here. In addition, the national side played ten international matches at the stadium between 1951 and 1990, including its 13 March 1974 contest versus Belgium which ended with a 5–2 victory in front of a record 30,000 spectators.

The stadium was used by the Berlin Thunder of the NFL Europe whenever the Olympiastadion was unavailable. The amateur side of Hertha BSC (Hertha BSC II) and BFC Dynamo also use the facility when they expect an unusually large crowd or where there are security concerns related to a match. In addition the final of the Berlin Cup is held here each season.

In July 2006 the first team of Hertha BSC played its UEFA Intertoto Cup semi-final match against FK Moscow (0–0) in front of 8,500 spectators here, as well as its UEFA Cup qualification home contest against Georgian club FC Ameri Tbilisi (1–0).

The facility also serves as a concert venue and has welcomed performers such as Michael Jackson.

A.D. Alcorcon

Municipal de Santo Domingo (Capacity: 3.000)

A.D. Alcorcon vs FC Cartagena (0:0) (Segunda Division, 19 March 2011)

Attendance: 2.500
Cost: Complimentary
Programme: La Agrupacion al dia (Complimentary)

Drinks anyone?
Only beer available was alkoholfrei or lemon beer.
Lemon beer it was!

 

The south-western stand.
Home to the more fanatical and noisy fans.

 

The temporary south-eastern stand

 

Cartegena on the attack.
One of the few times they had the ball in the opposition's half

 

View of the main grandstand.
Can you see the massive slope of the field?

 

Another good chance for Alcorcon to score with
an extra player for 83 minutes of the match!

 

Apparently the coach orders the ground to be watered
before and during half time of the match

 

Massive fan shop at the ground! I bought a scarf as a momento!

 

Alcorcon players warming up during the half time break

 

The goal square needs some work!

 

Sun sets over the stadium

 

0-0 at the end of the match, although really if
Alcorcon could shoot straight they would've won 5-0

CLUB HISTORY (wiki)
Agrupación Deportiva Alcorcón is a Spanish football team based in Alcorcón, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1971, it currently plays in Segunda División, holding home matches at Municipal de Santo Domingo, with a 3,000 seat capacity.
Founded in 1971 by Dionisio Muñoz Jerez, Alcorcón spent roughly its first thirty years in between the fourth division and the regional leagues. In 2000–01, it made its Segunda División B debuts, finishing in 12th place, and spending the following seasons immersed in mid-table positions.
In 2008–09, a third place in the regular season meant Alcorcón was allowed to appear in the promotion play-offs for the first time in its history: after disposing of UE Sant Andreu and CD Alcoyano, the club was ousted by Real Unión of Irun in the final round with a 3–1 aggregate.
However, in the following season, Alcorcón finally promoted to level two, after defeating Pontevedra CF (3–0 on aggregate) and Ontinyent CF (4–3 on aggregate).
On 27 October 2009, Alcorcón secured the most famous victory in its history, as it defeated first division powerhouse Real Madrid 4–0 at home, in the first leg of its round of 32 match in the Copa del Rey. In the club's first ever official match against a team from the top flight, its opponent fielded nine international players in its starting eleven, lining up Jerzy Dudek, Álvaro Arbeloa, Raúl Albiol, Christoph Metzelder, Royston Drenthe, Mahamadou Diarra, Guti, Esteban Granero, Raúl, Rafael van der Vaart and Karim Benzema, with Ruud van Nistelrooy, Fernando Gago and Marcelo all appearing in the second half.
On 10 November, in the second leg at the Santiago Bernabéu, the club lost 1–0, but won 4–1 on aggregate, thereby going through to the next round of 16, where the club was ousted by Racing de Santander (2–3 on aggregate).

Alcorcon -vs- Cartagena (0:0)
- Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Estadio Santiago Bernabéu TOUR

Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain (Capacity: 80.354)

Cost of Tour: 16 Euro

Tenants: Real Madrid
Opened: 14 December 1947
Renovations: 1953, 1982, 1992, 2004

The tour starts

 

View of the field and growth lights

 

Some of the hundreds of trophies in the museum

 

View of the players tunnel and coaches boxes

View from behind the goals

 

The seats are comfy!

 

REAL MADRID!

 

Away teams' dressing room

 

Plenty of comforts for the players post match

 

Answering a few questions after the tour

 

View leaving the stadium

STADIUM HISTORY: (madrid guide)
The Real Madrid stadium is more commonly known by the name of its founder, Santiago Bernabeu, and is used to host Real Madrid´s 1st team matches and the occasional concert. Located in the Northern centre of the city on the side of the main North - South Paseo de la Castellana the stadium is well conected by both Madrid´s Metro and Bus systems.
Whilst the site has been used for football since 1902 it was only when Santiago Bernabeu took over the club presidency that the present day Real Madrid stadium came into being (see here for club history).
In 1947 the current stadium was inaugarated with a match between Real Madrid and Belenses.
The 1947 stadium, and indeed its evolution to what we see today, was down to the then forward thinking of Santiago Bernabeu. He saw a Madrid public that had suffered through the Spanish civil war and wanted to give the city something to cheer as well as a monument to the city´s greatness. His plan was for a two tier stadium of 55,000 capacity which many thought to be excessive and way ahead of anything else in Spain at that time. Santiago believed correctly that if a stadium of such size was built people would come just to see the stadium and would want to be associated with it. Thus when 10 year guaranteed seats and or terrace entrances went on sale the 1st "bond" scheme entered into football history.
The original two tiers are still in use today although they have been heavily adapted to make the stadium all seater as well as provide TV and concession stand services.
So as not to impact on the then neighbouring residential community the 1st tier of the Real Madrid stadium was excavated below ground level. This being the case the exterior superfiche still astounds many 1st time visitors who cannot believe the stadium capacity when viewing from the outside.
Regular further development has seen tiers being added and the stadium remodeled as land became available. The latest addition to the stadium was completed in 2005 when 5,000 extra seats were added to the East side of the stadium.
It has hosted the European Cup final on three occasions: in 1957, 1969 and 1980, and the UEFA Champions League Final in 2010. The finals for the 1964 European Nations' Cup and the 1982 World Cup have also been held at the Bernabéu.