a little taste of my GDT greatness

This is the story that I submitted to the Gloucester Daily Times and the Salem News. Enjoy.

Football at Fenway showcases old ballpark’s versatility

It might be a completely forgettable season full of injuries and underwhelming performances for the Boston Red Sox but you have to admit it’s been a great year for Fenway Park, their beloved home.

In the span of a little over a year, the fabled ballpark which was built in 1912 (second oldest remaining in MLB behind Chicago’s Wrigley Field) has hosted concerts by the Dave Matthews Band, the Winter Classic featuring the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers on New Year’s Day, a college hockey game between bitter rivals Boston College and Boston University and then on Wednesday night it was the venue for the Fenway Football Challenge: Celtic FC (a Scottish club) against Sporting Lisbon (a Portuguese club).

Forward Georgios Samaras scored in the 71st minute for Celtic on a penalty kick which he had earned himself after being taken down in the Sporting box. Fenway shook when he put it in the net and it appeared about all 32,162 people in attendance took pictures with their cameras and phones at the same exact moment. Sporting forward Helder Postiga tied it in the 81st minute after his header into the vacated Celtic net followed a header off the crossbar by teammate Diogo Salomao.

Celtic won 6-5 on penalty kicks. Both teams amazingly enough went through their first five shooters with all of them scoring. Finally, Sporting’s Liedson skied one over the net and Paul McGowan, a Celtic substitute clinched it with a well-struck shot into the right corner.

“It was an honor to play here,” said Sporting Lisbon manager Paulo Sergio. “It was a little strange to play in a baseball stadium but from now on I’ll be curious about the Red Sox and the sport.”

The two goals were placed on the left field line (by where third base would be) and between the bullpens in the outfield. A layer of synthetic field turf was put over the Fenway grass and most of the infield. There were short advertisement boards down the sidelines and both teams sat on benches near midfield while the dugouts were empty. Every part of the park was open, just like it was a normal game day for the Red Sox and the vendors were selling the same overpriced food and drinks. However, the merchandise being sold was all soccer related.

Boston Bruins announcer Jack Edwards and former MLS player Brian Dunseth were broadcast partners for the live telecast on NESN from atop the Green Monster. There was a huge banner for Football at Fenway with both teams’ crests (logos). The Red Sox-A’s score was the only out of town score on the hand operated scoreboard in left field while the two soccer teams took up the main part with 1 and 2 representing halves rather than innings and check marks and x’s denoting made or missed penalty kicks.

Coming on the heels of the wildly popular 2010 World Cup in South Africa, not to mention the U.S.’ strong showing (winning their Group and losing in extra time to Ghana in the round of 16), this exhibition match seemed to come at exactly the right time as interest in soccer appears to be at an all-time high in both the United States and New England as well. The last time a soccer game was played at Fenway Park was in 1968 when Pele-soccer’s answer to Michael Jordan-participated in a match here against the Boston Beacons. Both Celtic and Sporting had players that had recently returned from South Africa and representing their home countries: Greek forward Georgios Samaras for Celtic and Portuguese midfielder Pedro Mendes for Sporting Lisbon both started the match.

If you think American sports have long seasons (and they do), get a load of European soccer schedules: the two clubs were using this tour of the U.S. as their preseason trip as they traveled across the country playing MLS teams and other European clubs before their regular season begins in mid-August. Depending on how far teams go in Champions League and other domestic cups, their seasons can last until mid-May. Soccer isn’t a winter sport in the colder parts of the U.S. but they play in the wind, rain and sometimes snow in Europe.

It was nearly impossible to find a Red Sox jersey or player t-shirt, a ubiquitous part of walking around Boston these days. Everywhere you looked at Fenway, there were few if any American sports jerseys in the park, most fans were wearing some soccer jersey of one team or another. Celtic was much more represented at the game than Sporting, which was a little surprising considering all the Portuguese living in New England. Then again, Boston has always been an Irish Catholic city so it makes sense.

One of the biggest differences between an American sports crowd and a European soccer crowd is the constant singing, chanting, hooting and hollering of the soccer diehards. The nauseating sounds of Sweet Caroline, a trademark experience of a Red Sox game during the seventh inning stretch were replaced by countless team and country specific songs.

All in all, it was a memorable summer night at Fenway and who knows when the next time will be that they have a soccer game here?

Both stories will be available on gloucestertimes.com and salemnews.com later tonight.

Well that was a mess

Haha everything went downhill after I thought it was over at 1-1 through regulation time.

The penalty kicks were a blur and then I went to the Sporting press conference with Pedro Mendes, two assistants/translators then manager Paulo Sergio.

Naturally, the majority of the talking was done in Portuguese or broken English. I wanted to hear from Neil Lennon, the Celtic manager and some of his players but I had to hustle back up to the press box since I was also writing a story for my real job (the Gloucester Daily Times) and our deadline was minutes away.

Ugh. The players were only available outside as they ran to their buses so after the shitshow dealing with that following the Czech Republic vs. US game, I didn't even try.

I had an awesome time but there was simply too much going on here for one man to deal with. I need Shimer to be with me, our coverage is much better together rather than seperately.

I'm an idiot, Celtic wins 6-5 on penalty kicks

As I had read before, if it ended in a tie, it goes right to PKs.

Sporting:
1) made
2) made
3) made
4) made
5) made
6) Liedson skied it over

Celtic:
1) made
2) made
3) made
4) made
5) made
6) Paul McGowan wins it with a shot to the upper right

1-1 final for Celtic and Sporting Lisbon

A fitting way to end for a back and forth game. Both teams had their moments but ultimately they were evenly matched.

It's getting a little crazy in here

A guy just ran onto the field and got absolutely destroyed by a Fenway security guard who caught him on the blindside.

We're in injury time now with both teams still tied at 1.

Zaluska says what up

Wow, Sporting has really turned up the heat since they scored the tying goal. Zaluska just made a beautiful tip over the bar on a shot by Sporting. Celtic is reeling now and they just try to hang on for the draw.

1-1 in the 89th minute.

Sporting ties it up

Celtic goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska just made a nice save that I was going to post about but then Sporting tied it up in the 81st minute as Helder Postiga headed in a rebound.

Diogo Salomao had a header go off the crossbar and Postiga was the first one there as he headed it into the vacant net.

1-1 in the 85th minute, finally some action.

1-0 Celtic

Samaras buried the penalty kick with a low, hard strike to the right hand corner of the goal.

1-0 Celtic in the 74th minute.

Fenway shook when he put it in the net, I think about 30,000 peopple were taking a picture at the same time too.

Liedson's shot deflected wide and out

Sporting forward Liedson took a decent shot that was deflected by a Celtic defender and went out of bounds. However, Sporting couldn't do anything with the ensuing corner kick.

Celtic had a good break on the counterattack but they seem to have no confidence in the attacking third. Neither team appears to have any firepower in terms of goal-scorers.

0-0 in the 70th minute.

Santos shoots over

Do you know what this game needs? A goal.

Sporting midfielder Andre Santos just shot over the net from outside the box. Hopefully somebody can get a goal in this game and it doesn't end 0-0, the perfect score for all the soccer haters.

0-0 in the 66th minute.

Someone just got booked for Celtic

It was hard to tell who it was but somebody on Celtic just picked up the first card of the game (a yellow) for a rash challenge on a Sporting player in the midfield.

Sorry for the JV operation here but I wasn't looking at the TV when it happened and by looking at the field I couldn't tell who it was.

0-0 in the 52nd minute.

Second half started

The second half has begun and Samaras nearly made it 1-0 Celtic with a header that was saved by Rui Patricio.

0-0 in the 49th minute, Celtic is charged up coming out of the cramped Fenway locker rooms.

0-0 at halftime

As usual, I was completely wrong in my prediction of a wide-open match. Both teams came out cautiously, especially Celtic and Sporting took it to them until the Scottish power finally woke up late in the first half.

It's 0-0 and that is the way it should be. Both teams have had a couple chances but neither have shown any ability to finish which isn't a surprise since this is their preseason. Say it with me, pre season.

Samaras volleys wide

Greek international and Celtic forward Georgios Samaras just volleyed wide of the Sporting net and the crowd let out its biggest roar of the night.

Patrick McCourt fed him the finely weighted ball.

Sporting just had a great chance but Celtic defender Glenn Loovens cleared a shot off the line after goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska had been beaten.

0-0 in the 42nd minute.

PS. Samaras is a body double for Jesus now with his long hair and thick beard. Somewhere Johnny Damon weeps and remembers what he had.

Saleiro shoots wide

Sporting forward Carlos Saleiro just shot wide, their best chance so far and Celtic followed that with their best chance as forward Marc Fortune had his shot/cross kicked out for a corner by Sporting goalkeeper Rui Patricio.

0-0 in the 28th minute but it seems like things are finally opening up in what so far has been a dull friendly.

Sporting is dominating play

For the first 12 minutes, Sporting has pretty much run circles around Celtic. However the Hoops just had their first chance, a cross that didn't connect and Fenway went wild. I might have underestimated how pro-Celtic this crowd is: it seems like it's about 90%-10%.

Frankly, I am a little surprised since there's a ton of Portuguese in New England. I guess there's way more Irish catholics (duh) and wannabes.

0-0 in the 14th minute.

Twenty minutes away from kickoff

Both teams are warming up and fans are starting to file into Fenway Park, I can't imagine how packed the bars are around Fenway.

No surprise that Celtic jerseys outnumbered Sporting by a wide margin: probably 10 to 1.

Starting 11's:

Celtic:
Scott Brown midfielder
Georgios Samaras forward
Marc Fortune forward
Mark Wilson defender
Ki Sung Yueng midfielder
Patrick McCourt midfielder
Charles Mulgrew defender
Glenn Loovens defender
Lukasz Zaluska goalkeeper
Darren Odea defender
James Forrest midfielder

Sporting Lisbon:
Rui Patricio goalkeeper
Marco Torsiglieri defender
Pedro Mendes midfielder
Carlos Saleiro forward
Tonel defender
Matias Fernandez midfielder
Jaime Valdes midfielder
Leandro Grimi defender
Miguel Veloso midfielder
Simon Vukcevic forward
Abel forward

Since it's an exhibition and the field seems really small, I expect lots of scoring chances and not much rough play. Hopeflly each team can pop a few goals and both fan bases can go bananas and toast the good life.

Soccer at Fenway

Big news coming out of Fenway Park yesterday, after being rumored for months, it was announced that Celtic will play an exhibtion game against Sporting on July 21.

The storied home of the Red Sox hosted its first NHL hockey game on New Year's Day this past winter and this will be the first soccer game at Fenway since 1968.

The match kickoffs at 8pm and it will be broadcast live on NESN. The World Cup ends 10 days earlier and the Sox will be on the West Coast so a World Cup hangover should still be in effect in the hub.

Tickets will range from $20-120 and they go on sale to the public on June 22.

"I'm excited to welcome Celtic F.C. and Sporting C.P. to Boston for their exhibition soccer match at Fenway Park," Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said via a press release. "Soccer is a global game and this match will provide another opportunity to showcase Boston as a truly global city attracting fans from around the world and highlighting the people, culture, and local businesses that make our city so special. Both teams have many loyal supporters throughout our city and I look forward to this matchup with great anticipation."

The match will be the 19th soccer game played at Fenway Park. The last one came on July 9, 1968 when the Boston Beacons faced soccer legend Pele and his Brazilian club, Santos F.C.

Shimer can't make it but I'm going to try my best to get there to cover it for the blog; I was lucky enough to snag a ticket to the Winter Classic and I've seen Dave Matthews Band play at Fenway three times so I'm excited by the thought of the beautiful game at one of America's truly special sporting venues.

Sounders to host Boca Juniors and Celtic

It was a big day for MLS teams and European opponents as the Seattle Sounders FC also announced that they'll meet Boca Juniors and Celtic this summer.

They'll play Boca Juniors on May 26 and Celtic on July 18. In their first season in the MLS last year, the Sounders lined up friendlies with Barcelona and Chelsea so there had to be a drop-off from that. Still, you could do worse than one of South America's best and most famous club teams and the other Scottish power.

Maurice Edu, making Bob Bradley look smarter by the day

It's not everyday that a Facebook friend does something noteworthy on a global level. Actually check that, it's nearly impossible for someone that your friends with on Facebook to do anything remotely interesting.

Well my Facebook friend Maurice Edu, a U.S. midfielder, scored the game-winner for Rangers in their 1-0 win today over bitter rival Celtic. If you haven't heard much about the Celtic-Rangers rivalry, look it up (not on Wikipedia though which is garbage).

Edu entered in the 26th minute and didn't disappoint as he finished from close range in the 90th minute. His team went 10 points up on Celtic with the win and now has the Scottish Premier League title firmly in its sights.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=285469&cc=5901