Cruel to the hopeful one

This weekend was full of hope. After watching the FA Cup final I went to the beach. El Tunco is a surf town with not so nice beach, but a good laid-back atmosphere and plenty of drinks, and I was in a good mood as I enjoyed watching people, reading and cold beers. In the evening I watched the final of the Salvadoran Championship, where my adopted Salvadoran side of Alianza destroyed Municipal Limeño 5-0 to take the Salvadoran title.

For me this was buildup for what I really wanted to celebrate: Brøndby taking the Danish League title! 

The Danish league has been awfully close, but with last day, all Brøndby had to do was win at home against AGF, and they would be champions. In the meantime, FC Midtjylland were playing their rivals of Silkeborg (recent winners of the Danish Cup), and had to win, and hope that Brøndby did not win.

I was perhaps too optimistic, but I felt that Brøndby could not lose this at home, with the support of the best fans in Denmark, and having played a great season.

9 AM I sat in a restaurant by the beach, ordered breakfast, and started watching the match live on the "OneFootball" app.

And it all started so well...

Brøndby went ahead 1-0 on a header by the defender Rasmus Lauritsen, and in the meantime Silkeborg went up 0-2 against FC Midtjylland. The title felt so close!

But then things started falling apart.

The same Rasmus Lauritsen missed a clearing and scored an own goal, making it 1-1, which was the score at halftime. "Ok", I thought optimistically, "FC Midtjylland losing, and second half to score a second, things cannot go wrong!".

But they did.

 Within 8 minutes of the second half, FC Midtjylland had scored 3 goals and were ahead 3-2. The title was now with them if Brøndby failed to score! We were all nervous as the unthinkable happened, and Tobias Bech brought AGF ahead 1-2, and suddenly the title was two goals away.

We were all hoping when Sebastian Sebulonsen equalised for Brøndby with 25 minutes left. 3-2 would give Brøndby the title, and we all pushed the team forward. 

But football is like life: cruel to the hopeful one. Instead of 3-2 for Brøndby, AGF scored a third by Patrick Mortensen. At this point I lost hope, but kept watching, and Brøndby received a penny of hope when Silkeborg equalised for 3-3 in Midtjylland. This meant that if Brøndby managed to get 3-3, they would be champions!

I never really believed in it, even though there were some chances. And as the match ended, thousands upon thousands of Brøndby fans all over the world had our hearts broken. 

What do you do when hope is destroyed? When darkness descends over your life, and you feel there is no way forward? 

There is no shame in crying and expressing your disappointment. Just remember to raise your head, be proud of your team, and look forward to the next season where we will again stand together behind the team!

Forza Brøndby!

And to console myself in this deep pain, I will have beer (gravøl), and make a steak on my bbq.

The day I found my Salvadoran team

 Today I went to watch the classic match in Salvadoran football: Alianza versus FAS in the second leg semifinal of the tournament. The first leg had ended 1-1. 

I had until now not selected a Salvadoran team to support, but today I have chosen Alianza.

I guess it makes sense, they are from San Salvador, a team with history, and a passionate group of fans.

But it was the little things that made me decide to go for Alianza: although they were at home, the place was full of fans from Santa Ana, where FAS is from. A varied bunch, and although a generally quiet and good-natured atmosphere, they were certainly more aggressive and throwing things on the pitch.

A point against FAS.

FAS played a bit better the first half and started going ahead on an outstanding long-shot from Jonathan Nolasco. They created chances, but Alianza had the ball more, and it was an elegant run from their right-winger Anyelo Rodriguez that gave the home side the equalizer as he passed the left-back and centered, forcing the FAS defender Rudy Clavel to score an own goal, and a stadium that exploded.

A point for Alianza.

Alianza came out stronger in the second half, and although FAS fans were noisy and annoying, Alianza fans kept singing and supporting their side. Alianza pressed on while FAS tactics appeared mainly to waste time by acting and committing a lot of small dirty fouls (in my view they should have deserved a red card).

A point against FAS.

As the match appeared to be going into extra time, Leonardo Menjivar made an elegant run and shot from the right side, scoring a great goal and making the stadium explode.

A point for Alianza.

There were nevertheless six added minutes, and FAS started to play football again, and came very close to equalizing, amongst others on an elegant bicycle kick or a great long-shot, despite Alianza's feverish and heroic defending. Alianza's players looked very tired but they fought and held on to the onslaught.

A point for Alianza.

So Alianza is now my favourite Salvadoran team. They are not done nevertheless, as they will have to play the final this Saturday against a side from the Department of La Union, CD Municipal Limeño. They are from a small town, Santa Rosa de Lima, who have never won the championship before, so they will be up against the giant from Alianza, who is looking to win its 18th title.

And I will support Alianza.

Alianza versus Aguila

 Tonight I went to watch a match in the Salvadoran top flight as the biggest team from San Salvador, Alianza, received Aguila, from San Miguel, who are the defending champions of El Salvador.

There was a good atmosphere at the Cuzcatlan Stadium and it was only one minute into the match when Anyelo Rodriguez brought the home team ahead after a disastrous defensive mistake by Aguila. Alianza played confidently and were dominating the first half, also helped by a double yellow for Aguila's Dixon Rivas, and were ahead at half time, with all advantages.

But Aguila's ten men came out well in the second half and Alianza appeared surprised and lacking concentration. In a situation where all attention was on an injured player, Aguila's Carlos Salazar equalised on a header, and Aguila appeared to be on top until, soon after, their player Darwin Ceren received a straight red card for a headless challenge. With only nine players Aguila pulled back to defend and waste time (they were good at that), while Alianza pressed, but their few chances were saved by the goalkeeper.

1-1 was surely disappointing for Alianza in a dramatic match, while Aguila celebrated as victors who had fought very hard.

Tragedy at Cuscatlan

 Catastrophes happen too often in football, still today in the 21^st century, and sometimes they happen close to where you are. I have been to the Estadio Cuscatlan in San Salvador a couple of times so I know it is a bit old with some bottlenecks. It was thus with shock that I heard that Saturday night, at the match between Alianza and FAS, in an overcrowded stadium, 12 people died and more than 100 injured from a stampede early on in the match. Authorities appear to have been relatively quick to act, but serious and justified questions are being asked about how this could happen.

It happens too often and too often authorities do not really  act on it. I hope that this will lead to increase securities so that the wonderful Salvadoran fans can continue enjoying their football safely.

The Salvadoran champions from FAS

Today I watched the final of the Salvadoran Clausura Championship between Alianza FC and Club Deportivo FAS, from the beautiful city of Santa Ana.

Alianza could win their third consecutive title, and together with Santa Tecla they have been the dominant club in El Salvador over the last years. FAS, in the meantime, is in fact the most winning club historically in El Salvador, but their last title was in 2009.

Despite a bad pitch on the Estadio Cuscatlan, the atmosphere was fantastic with fans returning to the stadium. Alianza played a poor first half and were behind 0-1 on an excellent free kick goal by Kevin Reyes. In the second half Alianza put pressure and managed to equalize, but were unable to get a decisive winner despite pressuring a hard-working FAS side. In the end it had to be decided by a dramatic penalty contest.

Twice Alianza had a match-ball in the penalty kicks. First, Henry Romero made a terrible shot that flew out of the stadium, and after CD FAS failed their first "sudden-death" kick, Alianza failed a second kick that could have been a winner when Michel Mercado hit the post. After scoring another, CD FAS goalkeeper Kevin Carabantes made an outstanding save that ended FAS' title drought and has surely started a well-deserved party in Santa Ana.