About goats, the rain gods and a new Ivorian God. Going to the 1.FC Köln « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News, supporting the club, the players and the manager
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By Walter Broeckx
It is always fun to go to an Arsenal game. And this time it was no different. Even though it was only a pre season friendly game it had something special. Or rather said a few things special.
After a nice and pleasant ride on the bumpy roads in Belgium, the smooth roads in Holland and the fast lanes of the German Autobahn we came to the Rhein Energie Stadion from the 1.FC Köln as the official name is. I had once been there at the stadium when it still was the Mungersdorfer stadion. A big oval stadium but now a nice modern and a bit English looking stadium. So the road to the stadium was familiar but the stadium was a new one and used for the world cup in Germany a few years ago.
There was a good atmosphere between the fans of both teams before kickoff. Gooners posed with Kölner fans for pictures. I had been sitting with my party in front of the main entrance of the Nordtribune and it was all happiness and lightness. And from the discussions I could over hear from German fans they all admired Arsenal before the game. They praised them before the game as a team that played brilliant and great football. I wondered if they were readers of Untold Arsenal. Apart from Podolski most Gooners didn’t know much about Koln but after coming back into the Bundesliga in 2008 they are a mid table team.
A few nice moments before kickoff. A very well respected minute of silence for the dead and wounded in Norway. But before that a very good spot of community signing of the club song of the 1.FC Köln. Any Englishman who knows a bit of German will have wondered in which language this was written but I can assure you it was in German albeit in the local tongue. The club and name of the town is pronounced “Kölle”. The only thing they should learn that after playing this song, they should stop the music and let the crowd start signing. Now they took away the building up of the crowd in fact. Well, but that is their problem.
Another funny moment was the entry of the male goat in the stadium as shown on the big TV. We have a cannon in our logo and they have a male goat. And this male goat is there every game. I think he has a season ticket. Apparently they have been doing this since 1950 and the current goat is the 8th one in line to attend each home game of the biggest club from Cologne. I just hope some kind of animal liberation front doesn’t feel aggrieved by this in some way. Just let the goat have its entertainment.
Another interesting element in this game was the fact that I have been standing to support our Gunners. We had the choice between sitting and standing tickets but I didn’t want to sit out on the opportunity to stand for this game. Okay this is the closest I can come to translating a great joke in Dutch but I don’t know if it still works in English. (Err, no, it doesn’t work at all in English Walter. Sorry. Tony)
Talking about entertainment: this game was it. And what a bang we had. I know it is a bit of a silly joke maybe but we witnessed a blitzkrieg in Kölle. And the person responsible for this was Gervinho. I asked Wenger to give him his debut for me and boy he did and how he delivered! A great ball from Jack who had a great 45 minutes and a splendid finish from our newcomer from Ivory coast. As it was still early in the game a lot of beer flew around in joy in our part of the stadium. But luckily German beer is chemical free so it will have no bad effects on those who got a beer shower.
And when he doubled the score after Theo crossed it superbly between keeper and defender it was becoming a dream début for Gervinho. And a nightmare for the Kölle supporters.
But this is Arsenal and so Gervhinho hurt himself while scoring and was replaced around the half hour mark. But Arsenal was well on top and I must say that they attacked with everything they had. Gibbs was more a left side attacker and not a left back. At times it looked as we played with 3 defenders. Was this Wenger who had told him or was it just Gibbs who couldn’t hold himself back? Well I hope Wenger knows.
Our new right back, Jenkinson, had a very mixed 45 minutes. He did a great job for 46:50 minutes with some great interceptions, a vital block, some good crosses and then he was the third Arsenal player to score. Unfortunately in his own goal. In the last seconds of the extra time from the first half he tried to clear a ball and punted it high over Sczesny in the Arsenal goal. You could hear his heart breaking. Never mind Carl, those things can happen to the best. I even remember Tony Adams scoring an own goal. Take it on the chin and hold your head up high. Just remember the time before this.
With only Gibbs staying on the field the roles were different in the second half. And this time I felt it was Sagna who was asked to play very high up the pitch and Gibbs staying more at the back. The result was a highly entertaining game of football. Some show football at times and no better person to do this than Van Persie. Nasri, Arshavin en Rosicky all joined in and we could have scored a few more goals. I will not even start an argument about the not given penalty on Arshavin. I will keep this for the real football in the league.
But when you have artists on the field you also need workers. And in the second half I was stunned by the work rate from one player in particular: Frimpong. I don’t know how many attacks he stopped from the 1.FC Köln but it must have been a lot. I know he did a great job in pre-season last season only to get stopped by a terrible knee injury. Well he seems ready know to pick up where he left it. For me he was the best man on the pitch in the second half.
But hey, what do I know I can only base this on what I saw in the stadium? Yet I thought he was wonderful, and I thought Wilshere was equal to him in the first half.
The only real negative point came in the last minutes when Henderson injured his knee. A very sad moment for this young man. I hope it turns out good for him tomorrow but it sure didn’t look good from the stands.
And maybe the worst part of it all was that right at this moment a section of the Arsenal fans found it necessary to start shouting: ‘spend some f*cking money’. The only moment I didn’t sing along and many of us kept their mouth shut. Now that must have been a great moment for Henderson who was lying injured on the floor. Hearing the fans saying they want someone else on the pitch. Someone who cost money.
And that sure must have sounded nice in the ears of that other “no money” player Frimpong. Yeah that really is the way to show your support to a young player coming through the youth ranks. And what would Wilshere think of this? And Gibbs? And why don’t I include Ramsey in this, even though he did cost us money, since it wasn’t that much? Or Szcsesny who came at 15-16 years and can be counted as someone we educated in our youth ranks. Yeah that sure will help those young players in feeling wanted by some part of our fans.
And as if the weather gods agreed with my thoughts they opened the gates of heaven and the gods cried their eyes out over this shouting. It started raining, it came pouring down. So we came all wet at our car and had to use the heating system to get us back on normal temperature.
It was a great day, with only a few minor things to feel sorry for. A great first half our from Gervinho who showed he can score but he also has a eye for his team mates even though his passes didn’t reach them today. Oh well, next week the Emirates cup. Hope those who are going, have two great days. I will be watching and supporting from my seat at home this time.
Oh, and one final note: I hope that you don’t lose your driving license for me texting enthusiastic messages, Tony.
(Fortunately no – I was driving but my friend in the car had access to my mobile so she read out the message and typed the reply Walter. Us British are made of sterner stuff you know – stiff upper lip and all – I kept going at a steady 120mph and we made it home to watch the second half. Tony)
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