InnsbruckGround: Stadion Tivoli NEU Visits: 2
Date: 14th June 2008 Match: Sweden - Spain 1-2 (EURO 2008) Attendance: 30 772
Date: 18th June 2008 Match: Russia - Sweden 2-0 (EURO 2008) Attendance: 30 772
Pictures from both matches: Scroll down ! Report (Sweden-Spain): After some days of touristing in the Salzburg area, including visits to Hohensalzburg and the Eagles Nest, I headed towards Innsbruck. However, since I was unable to find accommodation in the city itself I stayed in Kufstein, 45 minutes by train east of Innsbruck. Sweden against Spain, for the third time in this campaign, is of course the biggest match for us in the group stage and when I arrived in Innsbruck by noon the city centre was full of Swedish and Spanish fans enjoying the beautiful surroundings (and the local beer....) Tivoli Stadion, situated by the Olympic ice-hockey rink, has an upper tier on three sides but it looked like temporary stands and will probably be taken down after the tournament. As you can see in the pictures below the ground is beautifully situated with snowy Alps in the background. Sweden played quite well in the first half and 1-1 was fully deserved at half-time. In the second half we were under pressure for most of the time and the last minute winner from David Villa was probably what Spain deserved. As it stands in the table we now need to draw against Russia to make it to Basel and a quarterfinal against Holland. Finally, once again I must praise the support from our fans, excellent vocal support and I am so proud Swedish!
Report (Russia-Sweden): Our last game was against Russia and after being home for a couple of days I travelled down to Innsbruck being quite optimistic about our chances. On my train from München to Innsbruck I had some interesting company in my compartment, two Russians (one of them live in Kazakhstan and had travelled 9 hours in a plane), one German lady and two fellow Swedes. We had some good discussions about football and other important things. Anyway, after checking in at my hotel and eating/drinking I was at the ground 2,5 hours prior to kick-off and there were already plenty of fans. The Red Army was out in full force, around 15,000 Russians in the ground and one of the highlights of this trip was to be hearing them sing the Russian national anthem. To me this is the best and most beautiful in the world, three big banners were rolled out and it was a very impressive spectacle (See picture below). Russia totally outplayed Sweden and I was completely empty in my head as I headed back to my hotel after the match. I had gambled and booked a flight back home from Zürich the day after our supposed QF but now I had to turn to Plan B, going home by train. The journey started 8.24 in Innsbruck and after some delays I was in Kristianstad 01.10. The loooongest day was finally over. Fans and Alps
Fans in the city centre
Interview by Mr Unger
Stadion Tivoli NEU
East Stand
South Stand
West Stand
North Stand
Pano
Pictures from Sweden - Spain Fans outside the ground
Vikings!
Swedish fans
East Stand
Kick-off
South Stand
Goal
Pano
Pictures from Russia - Sweden Russians outside the ground
Russians outside the ground
Swedish fans (vs Russia)
Swedish fans (vs Russia)
West Stand
Kick-off (Sweden-Russia)
North Stand
Pano (Russia-Sweden) |