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| The Rheinpark Stadion - Very much in the distance |
We turned around and saw that none other than Winterthur centre-forward, Patrick Bengondo had stopped his car in the middle of the road to say hello. He asked us if we were going to the match and we confirmed. So that was us...committed!
The next day saw driving wind and rain for the trip to Liechtenstein.
Now, I've been to Vaduz before and enjoyed the experience. As you would imagine, Liechtenstein is quite like Switzerland, only even cleaner! Anyway, the last visit certinaly wasn't unpleasant and I was quite looking forward to this trip.
The last time I was in Vaduz, I drove there but this time public transport was the order of the day. The first thing I noticed was that on a Sunday, I couldn't find any train and bus combinations that were going to get us to Vaduz at a reasonable time before kick-off. That's an unusual thing in Switzerland but then again, its NOT Switzerland is it? So we took the FC Winterthur-faithfulls' recommendations on how to get to the Rheinpark Stadion.
The last time I was in Vaduz, I drove there but this time public transport was the order of the day. The first thing I noticed was that on a Sunday, I couldn't find any train and bus combinations that were going to get us to Vaduz at a reasonable time before kick-off. That's an unusual thing in Switzerland but then again, its NOT Switzerland is it? So we took the FC Winterthur-faithfulls' recommendations on how to get to the Rheinpark Stadion.
Three trains later and we were at Sevelen, a small town not far from the Liechtenstein border with a group of about 20 or so Winterthur fans. We jumped off the train into the rain for the walk to the stadium.
Say what? walk? It was along a fairly major and featureless road and it took us across a motorway and over the Rhein into Liechtenstein. In the weather we had, not very pleasant. There are mountains around there, of course, you just couldn't see them that well. 35 minutes later and, my word, was this a professional outfit we were visiting? A very jazzy electronic signing announcing the game to everyone heading that way. Somehow, I think the sign is for when the likes of England or Germany visit, as Rheinpark is also of course the national stadium of Liechtenstein.
Now it would be silly to have a Wembley as the national stadium of Liechtenstein. Wembley would actually seat the entire population of the principality twice over. The capacity is 7789 so its by no means a colosseum.
No problems at all buying tickets on the day (15 SFr each, very fair) or getting into the stadium. Security correctly saw fit to take custody of our umbrellas as they do not allow Wallies with Brollies. Besides, there were plenty of covered places from where to watch the game.
Points Time.
Getting There
2 / 10. The longest walk so far and not a particularly pleasant one especially in the wind and the rain (no, I didn't deduct points for the weather). It was also a shame that the route to the stadium did not take us through Vaduz. It would have been nice to see the place.
Friendliness
8 / 10. I don't think I spoke to a Vaduzian (I will call them Vaduzians, it makes them sound like they feature in Star Trek) other than staff or ball boys at the ground but those who I did talk too were fine. Always courteous and polite even when telling us off!
Safety
9 / 10. Not a nasty fence or net in sight. The stadium is mostly seated and the stewards had no problem with people standing in the seated area.
View
9 / 10. No matter what the attendance, I couldn't see how you would fail to have a decent view in this ground. No nets or fences in the way, no pillars. It's fine.
So why the lost point. Well its a minor issue and I think its some kind of safety ruling. Mrs. Duck and I are "standers". We also like to be right next to the action if possible. Somewhat bizarrely, on three sides of the ground they haven't bothered with terracing or seats at the lower levels.
Now Mrs. Duck and I wanted to let our team know we were there, so we stood in this area right on the fence. The local steward insisted we went up the steps into the seated area. Why? I can only guess that they were worried about our getting a football in the face.
Anyway, they were very polite about asking us to go into the stand....and its their rules. But it has cost them two points so he who laughs last...!
Atmosphere
3 / 10. Vaduzians! I was disappointed so here's a tip for next time. There's a ball-boy who stands to the right of the goal in the photo above. Have a chat with him about getting behind your team and engaging in banter with opposition fans. We got into a bit of a banter-battle with him but I decided to give it up. In a banter-battler with an 11-year old, there can be only one winner and that wouldn't be me. I settled for shaking his hand at the end of the game.
The 150 or so Winterthur fans were as noisy and colourful as ever.
Refreshments
4 / 10. Not good. The sausages we had were OK but the burger was very dry. That was about that for the selection available.
Overall
35 / 60
Redeeming Feature
Difficult to find one to be honest.
The Match
Matched the weather I'm afraid. Winterthur lost by a single goal to nil and were probably lucky to get away with that! Vaduz always had the upper hand and Winterthur never really got into their game.
At the start Winterthur were allowing far too much space in front of their defence and Vaduz nearly made them pay early on with a long range lob that fortunately cleared the goal with Leite, uncharacteristically in completely the wrong place.
That video represents the first time I saw the goal, and its not nice viewing. At the time, I was answering a call of nature and admiring the absolutely spotless toilets when suddenly I was hit by goal-music piped into the toilets. Vaduz - please see the point on atmosphere. Your fans should not need music to tell them when to cheer. This is something Americans need, not us cultured Europeans. Oh, and PLEASE tell me what piping the music into the toilet is going to achieve, apart from an embarrassing drip or two (I didn't but I hope you understand the point).
Anyway, the video shows Vladan Milosovic strolling through the left hand side of the Winterthur defence before crossing for Stefan Iten to unfortunately play into his own net. 16 minutes, 1 : 0.
For the rest of the half, the Vaduzians looked like doubling their lead more than Winti looked like equalizing and Christian Leite pulled off a couple of saves that are much more characteristic of him.
The second half and it really should have been two nil. Tripodi crossed for Hasler to shoot from around the penalty spot and I think Leite did not know too much about the hand that got in the ball's way. Tripodi had a chance himself to make the score sheet but was denied by a great tackle from Savvas Exouzidis.
Winterthur's best moment? a speculative effort from Kuzmanovic that brought a reasonable save.
Poor from Winterthur. And now I had that bloody walk back to the station.
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| Jazzy Electronic sign |
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| A Better View of Rheinpark Stadium |
No problems at all buying tickets on the day (15 SFr each, very fair) or getting into the stadium. Security correctly saw fit to take custody of our umbrellas as they do not allow Wallies with Brollies. Besides, there were plenty of covered places from where to watch the game.
Points Time.
Getting There
2 / 10. The longest walk so far and not a particularly pleasant one especially in the wind and the rain (no, I didn't deduct points for the weather). It was also a shame that the route to the stadium did not take us through Vaduz. It would have been nice to see the place.
Friendliness
8 / 10. I don't think I spoke to a Vaduzian (I will call them Vaduzians, it makes them sound like they feature in Star Trek) other than staff or ball boys at the ground but those who I did talk too were fine. Always courteous and polite even when telling us off!
Safety
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| Rheinpark Stadion |
9 / 10. Not a nasty fence or net in sight. The stadium is mostly seated and the stewards had no problem with people standing in the seated area.
View
9 / 10. No matter what the attendance, I couldn't see how you would fail to have a decent view in this ground. No nets or fences in the way, no pillars. It's fine.
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| Whats this empty area all about? |
Now Mrs. Duck and I wanted to let our team know we were there, so we stood in this area right on the fence. The local steward insisted we went up the steps into the seated area. Why? I can only guess that they were worried about our getting a football in the face.
Anyway, they were very polite about asking us to go into the stand....and its their rules. But it has cost them two points so he who laughs last...!
Atmosphere
3 / 10. Vaduzians! I was disappointed so here's a tip for next time. There's a ball-boy who stands to the right of the goal in the photo above. Have a chat with him about getting behind your team and engaging in banter with opposition fans. We got into a bit of a banter-battle with him but I decided to give it up. In a banter-battler with an 11-year old, there can be only one winner and that wouldn't be me. I settled for shaking his hand at the end of the game.
The 150 or so Winterthur fans were as noisy and colourful as ever.
Refreshments
4 / 10. Not good. The sausages we had were OK but the burger was very dry. That was about that for the selection available.
Overall
35 / 60
Redeeming Feature
Difficult to find one to be honest.
The Match
Matched the weather I'm afraid. Winterthur lost by a single goal to nil and were probably lucky to get away with that! Vaduz always had the upper hand and Winterthur never really got into their game.
At the start Winterthur were allowing far too much space in front of their defence and Vaduz nearly made them pay early on with a long range lob that fortunately cleared the goal with Leite, uncharacteristically in completely the wrong place.
That video represents the first time I saw the goal, and its not nice viewing. At the time, I was answering a call of nature and admiring the absolutely spotless toilets when suddenly I was hit by goal-music piped into the toilets. Vaduz - please see the point on atmosphere. Your fans should not need music to tell them when to cheer. This is something Americans need, not us cultured Europeans. Oh, and PLEASE tell me what piping the music into the toilet is going to achieve, apart from an embarrassing drip or two (I didn't but I hope you understand the point).
Anyway, the video shows Vladan Milosovic strolling through the left hand side of the Winterthur defence before crossing for Stefan Iten to unfortunately play into his own net. 16 minutes, 1 : 0.
For the rest of the half, the Vaduzians looked like doubling their lead more than Winti looked like equalizing and Christian Leite pulled off a couple of saves that are much more characteristic of him.
The second half and it really should have been two nil. Tripodi crossed for Hasler to shoot from around the penalty spot and I think Leite did not know too much about the hand that got in the ball's way. Tripodi had a chance himself to make the score sheet but was denied by a great tackle from Savvas Exouzidis.
Winterthur's best moment? a speculative effort from Kuzmanovic that brought a reasonable save.
Poor from Winterthur. And now I had that bloody walk back to the station.
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