Germany faced Malta on Thursday in a pre-2010 FIFA World Cup international friendly at the New Tivoli in Aachen.
The match kick off timing was 18.00 CET, but the day started much earlier for me and ended about half an hour ago before I started writing for my blog again...
The day started with a trip to the German national team hotel in Düsseldorf to meet a friend and get the latest infos on the German team ahead of the game.
After I had parked my car outside the hotel German national team player Marcell Jansen ran past me with one of the teams American physical trainers. The first sign of a player not playing later today, who is still recovering from an injury.
I enter the lobby on the way to the coffee shop and walk past a few faces who I know but not from football. Yes right it's Lleyton Hewitt, the Aussie tennis star.
But why in Düsseldorf? I ask him. He is in town with the Australian tennis team for the World Team Cup, which is played every May in Düsseldorf ahead of the French Open.
The lobby is full of people from football and tennis. I then walk further to meet my friend in the coffee shop. We sit down and are then joined by the German national goalkeeping coach Andreas Koepke while some German players meet friends and relatives.
We then go out to launch the campaign "Globall - rolling for a better world".
Andreas Koepke is the patron of the campaign, which aims to roll a giant ball through the 2006 World Cup hosting cities plus a few more and collect signatures of support for Team Germany ahead of the World Cup. And besides this donations are collected in support of children around the globe.
More information under: http://www.the-globall.com/
After a quick lunch it is of to Aachen on a 90 kilometre drive. An hour later I arrive at the New Tivoli Stadium. A lovely small and close ground with a capacity crowd of 32,960.
The weather is cool and damp with rains setting in. A cool afternoon, good that I brought my thick jacket along.
Though I have to file a report for radio and print, today I am the ground as a guest and have been given a special pass. And this brings me to the world of business seats, catering and more. Something which I normally miss as I either sit on the media stand or in the general stands. And all have their pros and cons...
There is nothing much to write about the game. Germany is the superior side though they miss Michael Ballack, who will play in the FA Cup final on Saturday; and players of Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen who face each other in the German Cup final the same day.
This gave a number of bench players and youngsters the chance to play. Germany won 3-0 against Malta and more goals were surely possible against an inferior opponent. A nice little test match for a good cause as the match proceeds go to the DFB Foundation Egidius Braun.
After the game a long chat with friends before the hour long 100 km drive home to Remscheid.
Once back home I sit down, write my print column and then prepared my radio report for DW Bengali.
And once through with these, I finish off the day with this blog entry.
PS: Last night I started my own Twitter account under http://twitter.com/Arunfoot . If interested you can follow me on my football adventures...
Tampilkan postingan dengan label Düsseldorf. Tampilkan semua postingan
Tampilkan postingan dengan label Düsseldorf. Tampilkan semua postingan
Kamis, 13 Mei 2010
Rabu, 12 Mei 2010
Dusseldorf - A Multifunctional Arena
The SPONSORs Sports Media Summit was held in the last couple of days at the Esprit Arena here in Düsseldorf, Germany.
And once more the stadium proved to me what it all can host.
I have visited the Esprit Arena on a number of occasions over the last few years, be it for football matches, a concert and now even a conference, while it also has hosted non-football sports like boxing and American Football.
And this visit once more showed me that these days a football stadium needs to be much more then just a sports venue to be able to generate revenues and keep itself busy on as many days as possible across a calendar year.
I have seen the same at the new Wembley Stadium in London, the Allianz Arena in Munich and the Arena auf Schalke in Gelsenkirchen.
And just to let you know, the Arena auf Schalke last Friday hosted the opening match of the 2010 Ice Hockey World Cup. The arena had close to 78,000 people attending to watch Germany shock the USA. And it was the largest ever crowd at an Ice Hockey game, but it was held at a multi-purpose football stadium.
Rebuilding the Arena
The "Esprit Arena" was build in place of the old Rheinstadion from 2002 to 2004. It was initially named "LTU Arena" after the Düsseldorf based charter airline, but last year the name changed to "Esprit" as LTU merged with Air Berlin and its name disappeared as an airline.
The naming rights itself is worth millions, a good source of income while for brands it is a good chance to spread their name.
But all this investment couldn't convince the 2006 FIFA World Cup organisers to include the stadium amongst the 10 host venues.
Stadium Specifics
The speciality of the 51,500 capacity arena is its retractable roof and its coloured seats, which makes TV audiences think the ground is sold out even if it isn't the case.
The ground also has a build-in roof heating system, so even in the coldest of winters it will be nice and warm at 17°/18°C with the roof closed. A real enjoyment while it is cold and icy outside.
The stadium is next to the Düsseldorf Trade Fair grounds, so parking isn't a big problem as elsewhere with public transport guaranteed through the tube which runs to the central station.
On non-match days the stadium can host conferences and meetings in its business area and the catering can activated for any possible event.
The speciality of the SPONSORs Sports Media Summit was that the main stage was build on the main stand with the listeners seated in the business seats of the stadium. A great way of hosting a conference, while the small studios for presentations were spread inside the walking ways of the stadium, where normally fans would come into the ground, get their food or go to the rest rooms.
What can India learn?
In India we desperately need new stadiums and need to rebuild some of our older stadia.
But why do we need to do so?
Simply to attract more crowds and higher spending fans to grounds to watch I-League action and also prepare ourselves for a possible 2026/2030 FIFA World Cup bid.
I know some might say, what rubbish is Arunava talking about or is he dreaming. To me the likelihood of India hosting a World Cup before qualifying for one is much more likely. But then a lot things need to be put in order plus certain steps need to be taken now so that we have a slight chance by the time the bidding process ends in eight to 10 years.
And for such a bid modern day stadiums are a mere basic.
So our people need to have a look at grounds around the world, learn what they can all do and then bring those ideas back to India.
But someone needs to invest into the infrastructure, be it corporates but also our governments need to come forward.
And once more the stadium proved to me what it all can host.
I have visited the Esprit Arena on a number of occasions over the last few years, be it for football matches, a concert and now even a conference, while it also has hosted non-football sports like boxing and American Football.
And this visit once more showed me that these days a football stadium needs to be much more then just a sports venue to be able to generate revenues and keep itself busy on as many days as possible across a calendar year.
I have seen the same at the new Wembley Stadium in London, the Allianz Arena in Munich and the Arena auf Schalke in Gelsenkirchen.
And just to let you know, the Arena auf Schalke last Friday hosted the opening match of the 2010 Ice Hockey World Cup. The arena had close to 78,000 people attending to watch Germany shock the USA. And it was the largest ever crowd at an Ice Hockey game, but it was held at a multi-purpose football stadium.
Rebuilding the Arena
The "Esprit Arena" was build in place of the old Rheinstadion from 2002 to 2004. It was initially named "LTU Arena" after the Düsseldorf based charter airline, but last year the name changed to "Esprit" as LTU merged with Air Berlin and its name disappeared as an airline.
The naming rights itself is worth millions, a good source of income while for brands it is a good chance to spread their name.
But all this investment couldn't convince the 2006 FIFA World Cup organisers to include the stadium amongst the 10 host venues.
Stadium Specifics
The speciality of the 51,500 capacity arena is its retractable roof and its coloured seats, which makes TV audiences think the ground is sold out even if it isn't the case.
The ground also has a build-in roof heating system, so even in the coldest of winters it will be nice and warm at 17°/18°C with the roof closed. A real enjoyment while it is cold and icy outside.
The stadium is next to the Düsseldorf Trade Fair grounds, so parking isn't a big problem as elsewhere with public transport guaranteed through the tube which runs to the central station.
On non-match days the stadium can host conferences and meetings in its business area and the catering can activated for any possible event.
The speciality of the SPONSORs Sports Media Summit was that the main stage was build on the main stand with the listeners seated in the business seats of the stadium. A great way of hosting a conference, while the small studios for presentations were spread inside the walking ways of the stadium, where normally fans would come into the ground, get their food or go to the rest rooms.
What can India learn?
In India we desperately need new stadiums and need to rebuild some of our older stadia.
But why do we need to do so?
Simply to attract more crowds and higher spending fans to grounds to watch I-League action and also prepare ourselves for a possible 2026/2030 FIFA World Cup bid.
I know some might say, what rubbish is Arunava talking about or is he dreaming. To me the likelihood of India hosting a World Cup before qualifying for one is much more likely. But then a lot things need to be put in order plus certain steps need to be taken now so that we have a slight chance by the time the bidding process ends in eight to 10 years.
And for such a bid modern day stadiums are a mere basic.
So our people need to have a look at grounds around the world, learn what they can all do and then bring those ideas back to India.
But someone needs to invest into the infrastructure, be it corporates but also our governments need to come forward.
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