Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Real Madrid Football (Soccer) Game

On the evening of August 22, 2013, Scott and Beverly attended a football (soccer) game between Real Madrid and Al-Sadd (of Qatar). It fulfilled one of our mission "bucket list" items, to attend a Real Madrid game.

When we got off the subway near the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, we found lots of booths selling paraphernalia of Real Madrid and their opponent. We bought a Real Madrid banner. Scott wanted to buy a Real Madrid jersey but they were too expensive (He bought one a day later from a street salesman at a much better price):

The people poured into the streets from all parts of Madrid and the surrounding areas:

Scott took this picture of Beverly about 30 minutes before the game started. (The game started at 10:30 pm!). The rabid fans, in their Real Madrid jerseys, were already filling the stadium, which holds 100,000 people:

During the opening festivities in the stadium, we enjoyed a full-moon rising in the sky above us:

Here we are with our Real Madrid banner. 

The huge stadium filled quickly:

This was a special night. The pregame festivities honored one of the most famous Spanish football players of all time and top all-time scorer for Real Madrid, Raúl (Raúl González Blanco). Raúl retired from Real Madrid in 2010 and he now plays for Al-Sadd. So this was his return to Madrid:

Amazingly, Al-Sadd let Raúl play the first half for Real Madrid. This is a picture of Raúl, in Real Madrid uniform, running onto the field (Al-Sadd is in black and Real Madrid is in white) to the applause of the players and fans:

The start of the game:

The celebration after Raúl scored the first point of the night, for Real Madrid:

Real Madrid won the game 5-0.

It was a great cultural experience for us to attend a game of one of the most respected and successful professional soccer teams in the world, Real Madrid.

3 comments:

  1. Hi! I found your blog googling madrid because my husband and I are going to be taking a trip to Marid next week. I love your post. Soccer is my favorite sport!

    Somewhere we heard that the Madrid temple allows members to stay there if they are visiting if they do a session. I saw on the website that they have guest housing. How do we contact someone about that?

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  2. Congratulations for accomplishing one important mission on your bucket list. I'm sure that you were very happy. The streets were filled with people supporting Real Madrid, and a lot of vendors were there too. Selling RMA merchandise a business seems great because many are willing to spend money on jerseys, scarves, and other goods just to show their love and support for the club!

    Jennine Stalder @ UESports

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  3. Oh, that was undeniably a great night for the both you. It was truly remarkable because you have fulfilled one of the things in your bucket list. I love how you used the term “mission,” as people would truly feel your dedication of completing those items in your list. Anyhow, having that beautiful banner is a great way of showing your support to the club. How about a jersey? Do you have one as well? Football is really a wonderful sport. It's no wonder people of all ages love it! :)

    Linnie Dimmitt @ Uniforms Express

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