HSV Forever and Ever

On Wednesday I saw Chelsea visit Hamburger SV in Hamburg with my cousin Johannes. The common nickname for Hamburger is HSV (pronounced in either three syllables as ha-ess-valdt or two highs-valdt, depending on the chant). It was an astonishing game throughout, here's the rundown:


- My uncle, Paul, bought Johannes and I these tickets and they were fantastic! In the last row of the section under the balcony, I was able to stand, jump up-and-down, etc without blocking anyone's view. Plus, they were close enough we could recognize all the players by their faces

- For those of you who don't follow soccer, Chelsea is absolutely loaded. You can see their roster here. Basically they consist of players who started for their national teams and players who captained their national teams. The reaction they received from the strongly HSV dominated crowd was unlike any I've seen in the US: they gave them a rousing ovation when they entered the pitch. I initially started booing, as would be the norm at home, but quickly changed when I realized what was going on. The crowd was excited to see such great players in action on their home pitch, very classy.

- Even in warmups, Chelsea was so nasty. Nicolas Anelka, the striker who was sent home by the French team at the World Cup for being a prima donna, was flicking behind the back passes to teammates in the shootaround, and always hit the lower left side of the net when he decided to fire one home himself (even when the goalie seemed to know exactly where he was shooting). Also there was a juggling circle that consisted of Didier Drogba (my personal favorite), Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, John Terry, and a few scrubs (term used extremely loosely). They didn't allow the ball to hit the ground for what felt like 3 or 4 minutes by saving the ball with high difficulty maneuvers. Johannes and I stared in amazement, but when I went to record they stopped.

- When the game started, I was disappointed when Drogba wasn't listed in the starting lineup. "Oh well," I thought, "I guess I'll have settle for Anelka and Florent Malouda up front." They both started for the French national team, no big deal.

- Chelsea dominated possession right off the bat, but HSV got a few good looks. There was an audible gasp from the stadium when HSV crossed and John Terry did his patented headfirst dive to clear the ball out - even though he missed. I couldn't tell if the gasp was in appreciation for something that we had only ever witnessed on television, or because he missed it

- The young defenders of HSV had supreme difficulty handling Anelka, Cole, and Malouda; they could get or put the ball wherever they pleased. This climaxed in a poor pass by a defender that was intercepted by Malouda who crossed the ball to Lampard for the easy score in the 24th minute. The air was sucked out of the stadium, even the fans behind HSV's goal who stood all game chanting were silent for a few minutes.

- HSV controlled the ball and was very close to scoring on two corners just before halftime. The crowd was definitely tense, but there was a sense of anticipation; we knew HSV would score soon. Terry helped energize the crowd with a terrible tackle from behind that earned him a Yellow Card.

- Being there live amplified everything. Moves that looked routine on TV during the World Cup were exciting to see live. Live, the degree of difficulty is much more apparent. Dribbles and passes that are made in traffic that seemingly shouldn't work go through and leave everyone breathless.

- At half, many substitutions are made. Because it is a friendly match, there is no limit to the switches a team makes. Chelsea puts in Drogba... I am stoked

- HSV continues to inch closer to scoring a goal in the second half. A funny series of events occurs when Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic cuts off HSV striker Jonathan Pitroipa to get to a long ball, but doesn't touch it and continues to block him off as the ball rolls a good 20 yards out of bounds, irritating Pitroipa. Next possession, Pitroipa comes from behind Randy Moss style to beat Ivanovic to the ball, cuts inside turning him around, then dribbles the ball back outside leaving him in the dust for a wide open shot on goal. It's blocked, but Pitroipa got his revenge making Ivanovic look silly to the amusement of the crowd.

- HSV finally pulls through, this time on a bad error by Chelsea's defenders who allow a bounding ball to get behind them just outside of the goal area. This happened a couple times before without consequence, but this time Mladen Petric - who had been going all out all game for HSV - beat the goalie to the ball with a risky high flying kick to put the ball in the back of the net! The crowd goes absolutely bonkers! A split second later and the goalie gets the ball and Petric's cleats in his face, perfectly timed strike. In the 72nd minute, we wonder if the game will end in a draw and how Chelsea will respond.

- Drogba had been playing facilitator since coming in at half. There was a nice behind-the-back pass to Anelka to get by three defenders (before Anelka is called for a questionable handball). But after the score, he goes into kill mode. He's built like a linebacker at 6-2, 220 or 230, but is faster than everyone on the field. He beats one defender to the ball before crossing him up and getting the ball to the goalie, Frank Rost, who smartly was in position to make the stop. More to come from him later.

- HSV deflects a corner twice, missing the goal by inches to the left. I jump up thinking it's in it was so close. It's late, but the crowd can feel another goal coming on.

- HSV gets an unlikely hero in Heung Min Son, a new transfer at only 18 years and one month old (born in 1992, younger than my brother. holy crap) from South Korea. He gets the ball and with apparently the hugest set of cahones ever crosses over Portugese national team starter Ricardo Carvalho and puts the ball past the keeper for the leading goal. Pandemonium! Everyone is hugging and jumping as "HSV Forever and Ever" (the team theme) blares over the loudspeaker. The stadium shifts from Hamburg to Cloud 9.

- No less than 2 minutes later, Didier "Manimal" "Two-Time EPL Golden Boot Winner" "I made peace in the Ivory Coast, but I will eat your babies" Drogba dribbles into four HSV defenders, leaving two of them on the ground and one of them facing backwards before unleashing a laser-guided rocket-propelled missile at Rost, who gets a finger on it to poke it out of bounds. There are no words to describe the crowds reaction. Some mixture of stunned, astonished, and a collective crapping-of-the-pantalones comes close. The girl next to me, no older than 7 years old sums it up perfectly: silent with hands over her mouth, eyes bulging, folded up on top of her seat with her knees to her chest. Earlier I didn't know if she was much of a fan because she wasn't reacting to some brilliant soccer, but she was completely aware of this moment. Priceless

- The crowd holds its breath through the corner a few more Chelsea strikes until time runs out and the fans go crazy again. Johannes and I go down to the pitch to try and get a HSV jersey from one of the players, but we realize they've all exchanged theirs with Chelsea's and they aren't going to give those up.

Absolutely phenomenal. Recounting this is pumping me up for the Paris St. Germaine match tonight. In other news, I've been to the Pantheon and the Louvre so far in Paris, I'll try and get a post up about that soon. Unfortunately my hostel charges for Wifi access, so I have to chill at cafés to post entries, photos, or even tweets. Not the worst thing in the world, just not convenient for frequent updates.

Cheers!
Stephen "Scuba" Lauer