Sparta!!!!

We were finally able to attend our first fotbal match in Prague! For me, this was the first time to ever watch live professional soccer. Sparta (Prague) played Zagreb (Croatia) and it was really exciting; we had such a good time with our German and Austrian friends. We were really surprised at the security we had to go through just to get into the game, though. They made us throw away our water bottles (not because they wanted us to buy their drinks but because they didn't want us to throw them on the field) and each one of us got patted down as we went through the gate. The security guard was pretty concerned when he felt my camera in my bag and had to examine it pretty closely before he would let me through. I'm pretty sure they didn't search the Croatian fans that well, because after their first gol, this what their section of the stands looked like:



That's right, the entire Croatian corner of the stands burst into flames with some sort of traffic flares or something. Crazy!! Sparta answered quickly with a gol but they could only muster one measly flare.



Oh, and they also had this little display of pyrotechnics but it wasn't too impressive (it's the tiny firework hanging from the corner of the sign):



Here's our friends (enjoying their beer) and Matt (enjoying his tea). We've been really blessed to have made several friends recently through our language course. They're from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.



Here's the Zagreb fans during one of their very well organized cheers. If anyone can help me identify that chant/tune, I'll be your best friend for life.



Here's the Sparta penalty kick that tied the game. Sadly, even though the game was tied, Zagreb won because you apparently get more points per gol if you're the away team. Sad for Sparta.



*We would like to dedicate this post to our dear little Aaron who wanted so badly to see a soccer game this summer but never got the chance. We did it all for you little buddy!