After largely staying out of the soccer craze (with the exception of the World Cup - that was about patriotism more than anything else), I've finally been sucked in and went and saw the Melbourne Victory vs. Sydney FC match at the Dome (with the lure of free tickets of course
- thanks J).
So I was sitting there, waiting for the kick-off at 8, eating over-priced and crappy food, fairly excited but left-out as everyone else goes on about everything soccer.
From then on, it was quite...well, boring really. There were a few good tackles, couple of unsuccessful goal shots, but nothing special, for what the game was hyped up to be. The atmosphere, apart from the groups behind the goals, was far from electric (unlike the World Cup).
The 2nd half picked up pace though, with both teams having more shots, with Melbourne being led by Archie Thompson. Still, possibly the most exciting part of the 2nd half was the attendance figure announcement of 50,333, the highest ever football (soccer) attendance recorded in Australia, eliciting a huge cheer from the crowd.
All in all, either the two teams were playing real defensive, or they were just too well matched. Can't really comment, but the nil-all draw was just the nail in the coffin for me. Maybe it was just coincidental, or I just caught a bad match, or maybe soccer's just not my thing, though its unlikely to be the last soccer related thing I go to, given basically all my mates are soccer nuts.
For those who want some real coverage by someone who actually knows something, check out:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/soccer/victory-celebrations-on-hold/2006/12/08/1165081156059.htmlor here for a google listing of the articles:
http://news.google.com.au/?ncl=1111357764&hl=enP.S. is it just me or are there no bins at the dome for rubbish, not recyclables...