An evening with Kaka

So a weekend in Milan beckons. Here's a little trip advice for our Milanista friends...

Arrival
On arrival you'll find yourself at Milan Centrale. Stroll through the massive concorse and down to the Metro entrance just outside (all the time keeping one hand on your wallet)...

So you've a bit of time to kill before this evening's game? Take the metro (yellow line) to Duomo. The Cathedral is, naturally, in the heart of the city and from here you can stroll to anywhere of interest within twenty minutes...although the stadium is a little further away.
Duomo
Of course the Pope doesn't have a monopoly on religious devotion as can be seen from this photo I took of il Duomo...no Fashion and Football are as much a part of the national character.

Having got your bearings, and maybe taken in the views from the cathedral roof, it's worth having a look through the magnificent Galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle, the Ferrari Store, the quadrilatero d'oro of the most expensive shopping streets in the world. Again, keep one hand on your wallet but this time to protect you from self-harm!

Metro

Ok - it's getting dark. Back into the metro and take the red line from Duomo to Lotto, making sure you get the correct train as every second westward red goes towards Bisceglie instead of Lotto.

It's best to arrive early, whether you have tickets in hand or not. Those of you needing to book tickets in advance can rely on Milan Point Estero they charge a small commission and are authorised by the club with a ticket office in the pre-fab biglietterie opposite entrance 7 at the western side of the stadium.

Lo Stadio

If you arrive from the south this is the sight that will greet you - from some distance - but 99% will get out at Lotto and take the ten minute walk along with thousands of others along Viale Fedrico Caprilli approaching the Curva Nord. As you turn into the car park of the Piazzale della Sport the magnificent sight suddenly appears. Thousands of tons of steel atop a battleship of concrete. In the night sky with those floodlights beaming it is breathtaking.

As you approach the stadium the third tier of the Curva Sud is visible through the gap between the Secondo Annelo Arancia (2nd tier east) and the cantilevered roof and you can hear the first boom from the Brigate Rossonero.

After collecting your tickets and browsing around the stalls (scarves €5, jerseys €10, cushions €1) grab a beer or five (€4) and some yummy porchetta panini...the ultras tend to gather at a bar in Piazza Axum to the south of the stadium and the bar directly below the curva nord (when its not Derby day).

Ingresso

Time for your grand entrance. The Curva Sud is season ticket holders only but you can get them transferred personally if you're lucky enough! If so than make your way to ingresso 14 where the security checks are more thorough than elsewhere. No missiles, no glass, your plastic bottles are allowed in although you can't keep the lids on and for god's sake don't forget your passport.

Once inside (the curva sud) there are no more stewards or security of any kind. You're on your own. After climbing the seemingly endless stairs you can hear the tifosi at the top selling the Brigate newsletter (it's free but you can throw ten cents into the bucket). There are clothes and caps laid out on the ground which you can't buy elsewhere ...

Coffee and Ultras

Grab an espresso, a box of ritz crackers and a couple of Borghetti from the coffee counter run by the cute Milanista and her Dad at the western end, take a deep breath and step out into one of the best stadia in the world.


Obviously with no security there is no seating plan to follow. Just find a space at the barrier (the second tier as you will not be welcome on the first tier not being a regular etc.) or wander around standing on random seats and chatting. One of the first things you'll notice is the intense smell of grass everywhere. It's just a fact of the italian stadiums, smoking hash/grass is part of the culture of calcio. The second thing you'll notice is the Brigate leaders. These are the lads who stand facing the curva hanging out over the space below - a bit frightening when you think of the drink and smoke on board - they constantly harrass and harangue the supporters as they lead them through songs for the whole 2 hours or more of the match and its build up.

Hopefully it will be one of those special evenings when you can be lucky enough to witness some Kaka magic ...

Derby della Capitale

The Rome Derby.

A typical Sunday evening - late autumn. The chill catches the breath of thousands of strutting fans as they cross the Ponte Duca d'Aosta, or pour from the number 32 bus, and congregate outside the swimming pool and entrance to the Viale del Foro' Italico. Rush a last panino and a beer from the paninoteca van then grab a copy of Il Romanista from the piles stacked outside the gate.

Flash your ticket and documents before traversing the marble concourse towards the magnificent stadium. The pace picks up as the rythmic roar bellows from deep inside the stadium. The Curva will already be heaving. Clickety clack go the thousands of abandoned plastic vials of Borghetti as they scatter in your wake - testament to the exquisite taste of the coffee-liquer swilling Ultras already warmed up inside.

Finally the electonic turnstiles beeping you through and a cursory exam of your documents and your in - just before the tear gas sends you running as the Laziale attack the police line behind you at the gate. Brace yourself with an espresso a hot dog and a beer before ascending the stairway to heaven. Each step turns the volume up a notch as you approach the floodlight arena. You know the scene that awaits you by heart but it still makes the hair stand up at the back of your neck.

BOOM. The sonic wave from the bangers in the curve. You duck involuntarily, only the seasoned tifosi remain unfazed by these enormous thunderclaps. And the curva. It's two hours before kick off so the curves are not yet heaving but the hard core are there - a kind of tifosi sound check in place. Arms raise and fall in unison, familiar tunes belting out and the racous whistling drowning out the opposing curve's intial sound check.

The mood is often set this early. Tonight it doesn't feel as tense as some recent derbies. Roma are playing their worst football of recent years and Lazio are top scorers in the league. Animosities are being somewhat put to one side as it has been announced that tributes will be made, and honoured, by both sides to two young fans who lost their lives in tragic but dissimilar incidents: Gabriele Sandri, 26, a lazio fan was shot dead a year ago by a policeman at a filling station and a young Roma fan, Nicolo, who died shortly before Roma's victory over Chelsea in an accident during the terrific storms that day.



The mutual appreciation of each other's dead extended for the first ten minutes of the match as both curves sat in silence with flags down and only the striscioni appeared pleading for giustizia per Gabrielè as they did on the curve across the peninsula during november.


But before all that sentiment there is the traditional welcoming of the home and away teams to the playing area for warm-up. Half an hour prior to kick off is really the last moment you should be taking your seat for this drama.

'Taking your seat' of course means taking a seat as the uninitiated fret from row to row staring at the seat beside you and then again at their ticket before asking 'hai esse?'. No! You sit, or stand, where you feel comfortable and preferably near the curva. Dozens of agile ragazzi scale the perspex divide into the curva while the powerless security men imitate wrongly punished footballers with pleading hand gestures asking them not to.

Don't get over-excited or Francesco might have to save you from the security guards himself!



The teams leave and there are only moments before the real action begins. The giant screens flicker. Popolo GialloRosso! screams Carlo Zampa as the AS Roma badge appears over both curves. The Formazione are announced, the away team first. A chorus of whistles and boos until the last few players are announced and the fans start to anticipate Zampa's booming exultation of each Roma player. Totti always comes last in the starting XI to the biggest cheer of all.

The anthem Roma, Roma, Roma strikes up and the stadium stands with flags and scarves held aloft. As the music dies the ultras strike up 'Forza Roma Ale' and somehow amongst the din a whistle is blown and the play gets underway.

You cheer, sing, run to the barrier, sit, moan, whistle, jeer and cover your head in despair for the next 45 minutes. At halftime the ultras often entertain themselves by trying to attack the opposite curva from beneath the stadium. On this occasion there was no trouble apart from a small conflagration where the lazio and roma fans met on the northern end of the Tribune Tevere. The fans themselves sorted it out and one arrest was made.



Obiviously, as with any fairytale, the just are victorious, the dragon is slain blah de blah etc. In this case The Beast does the slaying and we all live happily ever after. Cue much rejoicing and the players throw their clothes to the crowd to the tune of Grazie Roma...



...ah, and we wander off into the night questioning the parentage of our beloved cugini...