Woohoo! We're going to see Real Madrid play Roma in Giants Stadium (New Jersey) on August 8, 7:45 pm! What an opportunity! (See info here .)

Of course, seeing them play in Bernabeu would be better, but hey, this IS convenient!

So, east-coasters, come out and support the team! Maybe we can have a Madridman cheering section!

WOWEE!!! That is TOO COOOOL!! Man-o-Man I wish I could go!!

Here are the important details from Diana's above link:

Thursday, August 8, 2002
Giants+Stadium
ChampionsWorld & The Meadowlands Present
REAL MADRID C.F. vs. A.S. ROMA

Date: Thursday, August 8, 2002
Time: 7:45 pm
Venue: Giants Stadium
Parking Lots Open: 4:30 pm
Parking Fee: Cars $10, Buses $15
Doors Open: 6:45 pm
Ticket Prices: $75, $60, $50, $40 & $30

WAY too cool. Bummer for me, too, Madridman. I'd love to see Real (or any top La Liga side:: A Coruna, FC Barca, Valencia, even Atletico Bilbao, CaliBasco }tour the USA playing MLS clubs. Any chance that game will be on ESPN or FoxSportsNet? Or anything, PLEASE!

That's whatcha get for living in the provinces boys

We just got tickets for the game! ALthough we couldn't get to Madrid this summer...it will be ( a little) like being there!

That's great, Esperanza! We can't wait. Since the drive there will take us a few hours, we're planning to leave early and have a small tailgate party once we arrive in the parking lot - Spanish food only! We can't have a picnic dinner without tortilla de patata and chorizo. That'll be an interesting Spain-meets-the-USA experience! Feel free to come and say hello in the stadium - we'll be in section 206, row 10, seats 1-4, watching Madrid meter muchos goles and winning the match. That goes for any other MadridMan members/visitors as well!

¡Ala Madrid!

Diana, we were also thinking of a Spanish tailgate party, so we might see eachother in the Parking lot...if not, our seats are in Section 115 Row 4 seats 11-14. Hope to see you there, and any other MM friends.

It was a great time! The final score was 0-0, which was a bummer, but seeing good soccer being played was great. (At least Real Madrid was good. Roma might have been better if they hadn't concentrated so much on tackling in the first half, and tripping in the second half ) I also got to meet Esperanza , who was just wonderful about finding us during halftime while I was running around the stadium with my kids looking for souvenirs (my son ended up wrapped in a Spanish flag). I'm so glad I finally got to meet another MM member. Esperanza, it was wonderful meeting you and your daughter. If only we had more time to talk! Maybe some day another great opportunity like this will present itself. (I should get to NYC more often. Last night's trip made me realize how much I miss the area - I'm really a Jersey girl at heart, having grown up in northern NJ.)

The game's excitement started for us on the turnpike. My son sat in front of the van window so the back of his Spain jersey with " Raúl 7" was clearly visible, and it got so much attention from people in other cars who waved and honked, we soon realized the traffic jam we were in was made of the thousands of cars headed toward Giants Stadium! By the time we crawled into the parking lot (and we thought we'd be early!), we barely had time to swallow a bit of tortilla and gazpacho. We made it to our seats in time to hear Kofi Annan's speech (the game was sponsored by the UN, and proceeds raised will go towards the battle against AIDS). The crowd of 70,635 people was great! They came from all over the world, wearing soccer jerseys from all over, and spoke so many languages. Of course, Madrid had huge support, and we sang, chanted, clapped, did the wave, etc. with gusto.

See article about the game in Spanish here . Another one in English is here .

Diana , you recapped the game so well...not much more to say, except that it WAS so nice to meet you too . You really should come up to NY more often. My family and I were sitting in an area with muchos españoles...hearing Spainsh all over and all the wild comments thruout. We had a blast! So glad to have been there and been part of it!
Getting home was another story! The parking lot was a Zoo , the turnpike was even worse...and it took us 2 and a half hours to get back to the Bronx! (normally we can be there in about 35-45 minutes). All in all...a happy summer 2002 memory!