10/10:
On the 10th, Sweden faced off against hated rival, Denmark. A classic video can be seen here. (the game was an offensive thriller, however it was awarded to Sweden when a Danish fan ran out and attacked the ref. Pretty awesome.)
So, back to this year, Sweden needed basically a win or a tie to stay ahead of Portugal. Our plans were up in the air. The plan was to either hit a bar, or go to a friends place. In case we stayed in I decided to hit the Systembolaget (liquor monopoly). Obviously, I was not the only person with that idea. I have never seen the selection so bare:
Long lines at the Systembolaget:
In the end we decided to meet up with Erik on Södermalm at a pub.
I was joined by Henning and Pat, a newbie to Sweden. The match was exciting, and there were two separate points where the crowd was brought to their feet celebrating a Sweden goal only to have them reversed because of either offsides, or that the ball was out. In the end, Denmark knocked in a winning goal in the 2nd half, and the crowd deflatedly left, Sweden's chances taking a serious hit.
10/14:
So despite the disappointing result, Bjorn, Henning, Erik's friend Johan and Johan's sister joined me to head out to see the Swedish national team up against Albania. The forecast was chilly, in fact ... this is a photo from the day before of snow coming down. Yep! Snow in October!
But yeah, the math wasn't exactly in Sweden's favor. They needed to win, and they needed Malta to tie or beat Portugal. But first, to get myself amped ... it was time for some curling!For an after work event my department took us out to go curling followed by dinner. I had to pass on the dinner to make the game, but it was fun to give curling a try. As you can see, it was quite a facility:
Here we are getting instructions.
Here I am, in Sweden gear, getting ready to sweep if necessary (My coworker Caroline took this photo):
Look at that perfect form:
In the end I had to leave a bit before we completed all our games, but my team won! Woo! (photo by Caroline)
So I ended up catching a bus and meeting up with Henning, Johan and Johan's sister. We enjoyed a tasteless Swedish beer and then headed to the game.The game was played at their national stadium Råsunda, in the town of Solna (a Stockholm suburb). Thankfully, the stadium is going to be replaced. As you can see here, the columns come right down and annoyingly obstruct the view.
The new stadium is being designed by one of my company's competitors. It'll be a 50,000 seat stadium with a retractable roof. At the same time, Stockholm is planning on building a new 30,000 retractable roof stadium right downtown (this will be for one of the club teams, and concerts, etc). We submitted the preliminary designs for it, and we should be working on the final design, assuming Stockholm decides to pony up the cash.Here's a rendering of the Stockholmsarenan, in downtown Stockholm, currently under design by the world renowned structural engineer, Blake Doepker:
The game didn't stay scoreless for long. On Sweden's first corner, my camera was rolling:The song lyrics at the end "Gå kille gå!" just means "Go boy go!". Here's the team formed up after the goal. #10 is Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Sweden's most famous player, and regarded as one of the best players in the world.
Sweden jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but eventually Albania broke through and punched one in. The Albania section celebrated loudly, lighting off bright red flares, as you see.
In the end, Sweden managed to dominantly win 4-1. However, Portugal beat Malta 4-0, which unfortunately sealed Sweden's fate. I was really looking forward to rocking my Sweden jersey while watching the World Cup, but I guess I'll have to wait for the 2012 Euros. :(
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