Match # 1: Tottenham Hotspur vs FC Internazionale Milano
Date: November 28th 2018, Wembley Stadium, 8:00pm
Competition: Champions League Group Stage
Day one. Game one.
Today, November 28th, 2018 marks day one of our Premier League tour. Over the next three months we will be attending a match at each Premier League stadium — all 20 of them. There will be some additional games along the way, but 20 matches at each stadium in 90 days is our goal. And today, we begin.
Seven weeks ago we were sitting at the local Spurs pub in downtown Boston awaiting the outcome of a pivotal Tottenham matchup vs PSV.
If Spurs lost, their Champions League hopes would be crushed. We, along with the other fans in the back bar of The Kinsale, ordered another pint as the future looked grim. However, Spurs had other plans and put in an epic display of composure to win 2-1 and kept their hopes alive.
And here we are today. Group match 5 of 6 in Champions League play.
Tottenham vs Inter Milan. Our first Champions League match. Ever.
Our night started on a hilarious note. Janelle went into the women’s bathroom only to find a handful of Italian men (Inter fans) in there. Just a normal outing for them as they were not confused or rattled that women were walking in and out around them. Brilliant!
After maneuvering our way through the crowd outside of our turnstyles, we finally made our way in and to our seats.
Rewind a few hours: we had just landed in London ~12 hours earlier after a red-eye flight from Boston. Before that, we had made a quick round-trip journey to Hospital Point in Annapolis where we went to visit Janelle’s late brother, Jason, who is our motivation for taking this trip.
Needless to say, we were exhausted and I had completely forgotten where we would be sitting for the match.
Low and behold we had some of the best seats in the house right behind the goal, with all of the most diehard Spurs supporters. Nothing was going to wake us up more than thousands of Spurs fans on their feet surrounding us – directly showing their support and passion for the club.
Cheering. Singing. Screaming. You name it. They ROCKED Wembley. Maybe even more than the Spice Girls during their spiceworld tour.
As you can imagine, we joined right in singing their songs and yelling at the referee (who, if you didn’t already know, is a wanker).
This game was going to be our third Spurs game that we’ve attended over the years so we thought we had all the songs down. But one of the best parts about Premier League supporters is that when it comes to the club’s songs – you always have your classics, but every now and then, new ones come along — so we had the opportunity to learn a few songs that we haven’t heard before. It probably had to do with us being right in the center of the mayhem.
In addition to the amazing experience and atmosphere, we truly kicked our trip off on the right foot (or should we say on Eriksen’s left foot) – as Spurs drew even on points with Inter with the 1-0 win, and had the slight edge in the standings thanks to their superior head to head tiebreaker.
Over the next few months, we plan to post about the epic games we’ve attended, international soccer experiences we’ve had, and all things travel. Can’t wait to share everything that’s to come!
Extra Time Abroad is a lifestyle blog focusing on three areas: finance, sustainability, and travel. The blog is managed by husband/wife duo JJ & Janelle. They can be found on Instagram @ExtraTimeAbroad or at the airport!
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