Archives for August 11th, 2006

The final brutal minutes of Maribor v. Villarreal. (click to play)

I’m not much of a soccer fan, but I nevertheless did my patriotic duty and went to the recent game between 7-time Slovenian champion NK Maribor and Villarreal CF. It was both teams’ final match in the UEFA Intertoto Cup 2006, so the heat was on — it was on the streets. This was never more apparent than in the final ten minutes, when events on the field stopped resembling soccer and started looking like Wrestlemania 6.

Up in the stands I missed a lot of the fouls. So did a lot of people around me. That didn’t stop us from shouting and whistling at the referee whenever one of our beloved purple gladiators fell down or got in a scuffle. But as soon as the roar died down, my neighbors would turn to me and ask: “Kaj je blo?” (What happened?)

So, I actually missed a lot of what you can see in the video. I did see this ridiculous Three-Stooges-inspired nose grab by Villarreal’s only-goal-scorer Nihat “Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk” Kahveci.

I also got to hear the word MA-RI-BOR! well over a thousand times, which is (of course) what makes the live experience so thrilling. When all was said and done, Villarreal lost a whopping three players to red cards — including Diego Forlan, who slapped a Maribor player three times in less than sixty seconds. (The last time while standing directly next to the referree — clearly not a symptom of advanced intelligence.) Maribor won on aggregate 3:2.

In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen: MARIBOR ŠAMPION! Also: MARIBOR!! And: MARIBOR!! And, to summarize my position on this issue: MARIBOR!!!!

P.S. MARIBOR ŠAMPION!!!