Calcio!

Yesterday, we went to a soccer game in Milan. THE DERBY! Inter Milan vs. AC Milan. A once in a lifetime experience! Even if you are Italian!!!

So, I was pumped.

Getting tickets began approximately one year ago... not really, but for you to appreciate how special this opportunity was. I should explain how getting tickets works. You can't just go to ticketmaster.com and buy tickets to a professional soccer game in Italy. From what I have gathered over the last year, you have a couple of options.

Option 1

The tickets are distributed by local banks in Italy. So the first option, is to wait until they are available at the banks. Then you can camp out in front of the bank the night before they go on sale and wait in line for hours and hours and hope that when you make it to the front of the line you can actually get a ticket before they are all sold out. If you don't live in Italy, this is not a great option.

Option 2

You can have an awesome job where your company has season tickets and gives them to you to entertain clients and to build up morale in the workplace. I do not work at a place like this, nor am I close friends with any such person...

Option 3

You can join one of the team's fan clubs. The members of these clubs have the right to buy tickets first. How you become a member of one of these fan clubs is shrouded in mystery. I am now a member of a fan club, but I couldn't really tell you how to do it. You kinda have to know someone...

Here's the story. My friend from work, Marco, is an AC Milan superfan. Whenever he even says the name Inter (his team's arch rival) he has to make an insulting remark, stab a voodoo doll, and wash his hands. He refers to the Italian sports newspaper as "the Bible" and is full of useless Italian soccer trivia, history, facts, figures, etc. Soccer is like a religion to our Italian friends and Marco is a high priest of AC Milan. So, I asked him to get us to a game by whatever means were necessary. He agreed. He knew the best game for us to go to would be the Milan derby (i.e. Inter Milan vs. AC Milan). These are two of the best teams in the league and have both been in 1st place this season.

Now... Marco's uncle is a fan of Inter and is in the Inter fan club. How they even speak to each is a mystery. Inter was the home team for this particular derby, so their fans got first options to buy about 80,000 of the 90,000 tickets available for the game. So, for us to get tickets, Marco, Malinda, me, and the other two guys who went with us all had to join the Inter fan club through Marco's uncle to get tickets.

The fact that Marco is now a card carrying member of the Inter fan club is so disgusting to him that it pains him to think about it. I don't think he knows about this blog, because if he knew this was in print he might try to kill me. He has also told me of some interesting ways we could use the fan cards and what we can wipe with them... Here's what I know you need to join the Inter fan club:

1) it costs 20 euros per person,

2) it requires a copy of your passport,

3) you must provide your birthdate (this can be done through a text message),

4) you must provide your address (also okay to provide this via text to some mystery person),

5) you must provide a copy of your Swiss/US ID, and

6) you must promise your firstborn son will swear allegiance to the team

After that, you can buy a ticket which aren't so expensive (45 euros each).

The atmosphere of the game is great. The "curves" (endzones) of the stadium have the "ultras" (psycho fans) for each team. One side is the home team, one is the away team. These guys don't just make signs, they have enormous coordinated signs that cover the entire section they are in. They stand up the whole time and sing songs the whole time. They also set stuff on fire, light flares, and have been known to sneak in Vespa's and throw them off the upper levels into the lower levels. There are leaders of the ultras that coordinate the people to sing the right song at the right time. The leaders are facing the crowd, and sometimes standing on the outside of the railing of 60 ft high second level they are on. Marco says the leaders never watch the game because their job is to coordinate the people to sing, burn, or throw stuff when the time is right.

The game itself was not that exciting. There was one goal in the fourth minute and it was a penalty. There were a few yellow cards and one red. Some shoving, but no fighting. The level of play is really amazing. The guys are super fast and don't make many mistakes. All in all, it was a fantastic experience. It really is something that even most people in Milan have never done.

Now that we are members of the Inter fan club, if Inter makes it far in the Champion's League, we could have a chance to see another great game. We will see...