FC Bayern- Danke!

On Tuesday, I had the great opportunity to go to my first FC Bayern München game. FC Bayern is Munich's premier soccer team and could be considered the Yankees of Germany. They have a ton of money to lure the best players and coaches, year after year. So they win major championships, year after year.

The game on Tuesday was between FC Bayern and Steaua Bucharest as part of the Champions League, one of the three leagues in which FC Bayern competes. The Champions League is Europe-wide (hence why we were playing Bucharest); the Bundesliga is for German teams only; and the DFB-Pokal is the annual elimination tournament of the German Futball League.

We walked up to the stunning and sparkling new (built for the World Cup in 2006) Allianz Arena in Munich. When FC Bayern is playing, the stadium glows red (and apparently my friend's eyes do, too!). When TSV 1860 München (Munich's second team) is playing, the stadium glows blue. During the day, it looms over northern Munich in its natural white.

The fans charged the atmosphere, even before we made it through the securty screening. Fans of vastly differing sobreity levels crammed the subways and started singing when we made it to our stop. The 5 minute walk to the stadium filled itself with cheers.

Once inside, the soccer crazed Germans showed me their true colors. A whole section of the stadium jumped up and down constantly-- and not just because of the cold. Their voices carried praises of FC Bayern throughout the game, never once stopping. The most similar thing in the States would probably be a college basketball game where the student section is quite riled up.

For the other 95% of the fans though, the game was much more important than cheers and jumping. Unlike baseball games where conversations banter about among fans, interspersed with tense moments, these fans kept their eyes glued to the field, rarely taking a break to make a comment or take a sip of beer.

When Miro Klose of FC Bayern finally scored, the stadium erupted, standing up to salute the soccer heros. Once the initial celebration quited down, the annoucer started talking (in German, of course!):

Announcer: And in the 57th minute a goal for FC Bayern by Miro...

Crowd: Klose!

A: Miro...

C: Klose!!

A: MIRO...

C: KLOSE!!

A: The score now stands at FC Bayern

C: ONE

A: Steaua Bucharest

C: ZERO

A: Thank you!

C: You're Welcome!

After two more goals and 33 more minutes, the game came to an end, with FC Bayern victorious! They waved at the crowd as the crowd waved their red FC Bayern scarves at the team. But scarves quickly went back on as people began to stream outside and head home.