Stade de France

This past weekend I traveled to France and spent 3 nights in the beautiful city of Paris. I stayed at the 3 Ducks Hostel which was nicely located near the Eiffel Tower and many other historic attractions throughout the city. Scheduling this trip I wasn’t aware that coincidentally, the French National Team had scheduled a friendly match against the U.S National team the same weekend. One of my friends who I met up with in France told me that he had bought a ticket days ago for the match and that if I wanted one I would probably have to act quickly. fortunately enough, I was able to get a ticket. The match was played at the Stad de France, the stadium which held the 1998 World Cup final between France and Brazil. Approaching the stadium gave me chill. I remember sitting on my couch waiting for the 1998 World Cup Final to begin and seeing a panoramic view of this same stadium before and after each and every commercial break. I never thought I would have the chance to see this stadium in real life, and better yet, be able to watch an International match inside.

The Match started off very slow. Both sides were missing a couple of their starting 11, but the field was still filled with world-class talent. USA was missing Landon Donavan, who is always exciting to watch and seems to be the heart and soul of the United Sated attack. France on the other hand were missing a couple of key defenders and were playing some new young stars I was yet to hear of. The first half went by without much action. Both sides seemed a bit lacsidazical. Perhaps due to the fact that the game had no significance, both sides could have been experimenting with their formations, new players or styles of play. The second half contained more excitement, mostly from Frances young strikers. The United States defended poorly for a good portion of the second half, but Tim Howard kept them in the game with numerous acrobatic saves. The United States kept a clean sheet until a young passie french striker was played a nice ball over an US defenders head and struck it into the back of the net  far post past Tim Howard. Although the United States were down, It was an amazing experience watching the French fans celebrate for their country. Looking over the stadium I saw thousands of miniature French flags waving frantically in the air which created a breathtaking view. The game ended 1 to 0.

Watching the French national team play my home country at one of the most famous futbol stadiums in the world was an amazing experience, yet throughout the game, and afterwards, I couldn’t help to think about how much more exciting watching an FC Barcelona game is. The fact that these were 2 international teams made the whole idea of the match that much more thrilling, but the quality of play was nowhere near FC Barcelona. To be frank, the game between france and the US was lacking creativity, passion and skill. Watching an FC Barcelona game, you can tell the players know each others qualities and playing styles and try to express them as much as possible. France and the Unites States seemed a bit confused throughout the majority of the match because it is likely that a lot of the players hadn’t played with each other prior to that weeks training. Having good team chemistry is not the only reason why FC Barca is more exciting to watch than international play. They also play an attractive style of futbol (possession, one and two touch passing), which  is memorizing to watch. I am in no means attempting to insult international futbol matches. Yes, it is very difficult to play a match with players you aren’t familiar with like much of international play consists of (especially friendly matches). However watching this FC Barcelona side, which has been named one of the greatest teams in the history if futbol, is truly amazing. I feel very lucky to have been able to watch a live game at Camp Nou weeks ago, and I am looking forward to attending my second FC Barcelona game with my father who is visiting me next week here in Barcelona.