Do you have an experience that you would like to share about going to a football match or meeting a football player?
Email me at [email protected] and I will post your story on this site.
Funny thing happened to me tonight: my family and I went to a local restaurant (Il Pavia) to celebrate my birthday. I decided to go to the same place because last time I went there (2 years ago, again for my birthday), I met Nicola Amoruso. Since the other time my sister wasn't there, I joked telling her that tonight we were going to meet another Juve player.
And we did: around 8:30 PM, here comes Edgar Davids in all his might. He was together with a friend who looked like he was 20 or something. He looked like Fabian Carini, but I couldn't understand why he would be there. I would have expected him to be with Daniel Fonseca or Paolo Montero.
Regardless if that was Carini or not (can't find a picture of him), we continued with our dinner, sometimes taking a look at Davids. This was the fourth time already that I met Davids and I already had his autograph, so I didn't want to bother him.
At a certain moment, my sister said: "There is the Juve doctor, Riccardo Agricola". I looked at him, but it wasn't, so we kept eating. Then, suddenly, I looked up, and there was Alex Del Piero sitting at a table with his girlfriend, his brother Stefano, and another girl (Stefano's girlfriend/wife/whatever). He didn't sit at the same table with Davids, but went to say hello to another table (couldn't make out the person he met). BTW, for those who want to know, his girlfriend is nothing spectacular, but very pretty and, most of all, absolutely *normal*.
The night was beginning to be exciting, but, like with Davids, I wasn't going to bother Del Piero for an autograph which I already have.
Then came the 5 craziest minutes of the night, when Paolo Montero (with glasses) came in and sat at Davids' table, quickly followed by Edwin Van der Sar and Zinedine Zidane. At this point I was incredulous and told my sister to get some autographs, since she's younger and prettier :)
She didn't want to go to the table and I kept on begging her. She then told me to go to the restrooms since we had finished dinner, so she could find the courage of going there and making a fool of herself. She left the restroom before me and, as I was leaving myself, I saw her stalking Zidane at the buffet. Finally, when Zizou turned around, she asked him for an autograph. She didn't want to go to the table and ask Montero and Van der Sar, so I left her at the buffet. She quickly joined me at the restaurant exit and told me she managed to get Van der Sar and Mark Iuliano's (who we didn't see come in) because she met them, again, at the buffet.
There it goes, my 24th birthday with 6 Juve players!
| contributed by Andrea Vellano - Turin, Italy |
Brazil and Argentina played a friendly match in my city on Tuesday, September 7 1999, and as a fan of many of the players that would be present on the occasion - especially Hernan Crespo -, I thought just going to the match wouldn't be enough.
After an unsuccessful experience on the airport on Sunday, when both teams arrived, I went to their hotel on Monday, always followed by my sister (another football mad!), hoping to get some autographs, maybe pictures. The players would leave to the training session at 14h30min, and they'd have to get out of the hotel to enter the bus. To my surprise, there were many fans there, proving that the rivalry between Brazil and Argentina is not that big...
The players started to appear on the hotel lobby, but while the fans were busy trying to get their attention without success, the police made a human wall to protect the players on their way to the bus. So, they came out, very serious, and none of them signed any autographs, despite our insistent requests.
Me and my sister had planned to go to the stadium to see them training, but we thought that, if we stayed over and waited for them to get back, there would be less people and it would be easier to get autographs. So, there we stayed, in front of the hotel for around four hours, doing nothing but waiting...
The time approached and first came the van with their training material. We were all set, I would get the autographs while my sister would take the pictures. I was really nervous. The bus arrived, and the players start to step down.
I got to come close to the players and get the autographs I wanted so much, but there was one missing: Crespo's autograph. I hadn't seen him yet. So I saw him, almost entering the hotel. It was my last chance, and probably my only one, and I couldn't blow it. So immediately I started walking towards him, gave him the paper and pen, he signed and I left. Nothing much if you think about it. I was still so nervous that I don't even know if I told him anything, I don't even know if I thanked him (I
hope I did!!)...
One thing is for sure, though. I still feel the happiness and excitment of that moment when I remember this all or look at my reward for being so patient...
| contributed by Alice - Porto Alegre, Brazil |
NEWS
