San Siro Stadium, Milan

Favorite thing: Even my reply is late for you, i think you might like to know what i'm going to say. Tickets for Inter games can be bought on line one week before the game, on the Internet: www.intern.it. You receive a kind of voucher which you have to print and when you go to the stadium, there are special places for Internet tickets, where your voucher will be changed with a normal ticket. You need an ID paper with you (passport or card ID). Women and children receive reduced price tickets (except for the direct games between Inter, A.C. Milan and Iuventus).

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Favorite thing: I went in Milano on March 11th, 2008 to see a Champions League match between AC Milan and Arsenal... Of course, the match was not the only thing I saw...

Fondest memory: My best memory of Milan were two things. First: the San Siro Stadiun, which is absolutely fantastic; and second: Arsenal fans, which are one of the best football fans in the world! I hope we'll see each other in the next season of Premier League.

Favorite thing: There have been some less good moments too in Milano. Milan have lost some games that have pissed me off, other teams have won the titles I wanted for Milan, and so on. But that’s a part of the game, and you just have to accept that you can’t win them all…

Instead my worst football moment in Milano came last spring when Milan and Roma met. I knew there could be trouble outside the stadium, so I had decided to get inside quickly. But when I was in the line, waiting to get in, with just two person before me before the gate, they suddently closed it, since there were a pack of Roma-supporters coming, and then no one was allowed to enter.
Unfortunately in the same moment, close to the place where I was standing, some Milan-supporters started to throw bottles, fire-crackers and other things against the police in order to get the Roma-supporters. The police throw it back, and I, together with the rest of the people close to me, understood that it was time to run, or to stay and fight.

I started to run, needless to say… ;) When I flew away I saw some smoke in front of me, and thought that it was another fire-cracker that had been thrown away.
One half second later I saw my mistake… Or, I didn’t see it, I just felt it. It was not normal smoke, it was teargas that the police had thrown… I ran right through it, and my whole face felt like it had exploded. Tears were flowing from my eyes, I couldn’t see, I couldn’t breath. Hundreds of people beside me felt the same. No one saw anything, we just ran and hoped the pain would go away. At the same time we didn’t know if that stupid police still were chasing us with more teargas (they must have thought it was really fun to throw teargas at innocent spectators… argh…).

15 minutes later my eyes finally stopped crying, and I could soon see normal again. After another 15-20 minutes my face didn’t feel so swollen anymore either, and I could finally start concentrating on the game I had come there to follow…

Favorite thing: I’ve spent so many wonderful moments in Milano and at Stadio San Siro that it’s actually really hard to pick out just one good moment… I mean, it could be the fantastic derby 01/02, when Milan beat Inter with 6-0, or my first match ever at the stadium (Milan-Juventus 2-2 00/01), or last years derby-victory, when Milan changed 0-2 to a victory, 3-2. Or when Milan won the league last year, 1-0 against Roma, or the big party-game against Brescia the week after. Or that night when Milan won the Champions League-final against Juventus in Manchester, and 50 000 people were gathered at San Siro to see the game at a big screen… Or… or… or… Well, you see my problem…

But if I have to say just one moment it is from the Champions League-game Milan-Real Madrid in the season 2002/03. The whole stadium was packed with people, totally sold out. The Curva Sud with the most hardcore Milan-supporters had done a great choreograph at the beginning of the match, and then lit up the whole curva in the second half with their fire-crackers. At the same time Milan was playing the best football I’ve seen, scored 1-0 and the whole stadium lifted them up with their songs.

It was during one of those seconds, in the second half, Gennaro Gattuso had done another heroic run over the whole pitch to win the ball, every spectator at the whole San Siro stood up and jump, it felt like the whole world was red and black that night…

Suddently it became too much, to many feelings in one moment. My eyes got filled with tears, I had to sit down, start breathing slowly, and then slowly get back to the game again… Fantastic moment, Grande Milan!

Favorite thing: For the big games, Milan-Inter, Milan/Inter-Juventus or any really big European game, it will be really hard to find tickets on the matchday. They are always sold out weeks in advance.
Despite this, it’s always possible to buy tickets outside San Siro. The black market is “open” on all matchdays, but extremely expensive when it’s a big match. For a Milan-Juventus or a derbygame you will have to pay around 80-120 euro for the cheapest ticket. On the other side, if you’re lucky, on days for smaller games, you could get a really good price for a ticket, if you wait for some minutes after the game has started.
But make attention, because you also risk to buy a fake-ticket, which means you have thrown away all your money on nothing. When you enter the stadium there are big security-controlls, so there is no way you’ll enter with a false ticket. It’s always hard to say if a ticket is real or not, also for people who goes to the stadium every week. So you’ll have to chance a bit.
It’s not that common with fake-tickets, I’ve bough black market-tickets around 15-20 times, and only once I’ve got a false ticket.

Favorite thing: As a “first-time-ever at San Siro”-visitor, or just a neutral supporter, I suggest you to buy a ticket at the second stage, in the red or orange stand. From there you’ll see the game really good, be able to listen to the atmosphere, and not pay a smaller fortune for the ticket. In general, a ticket for these seats, costs 25-28 euro each.
In the curva, the tickets of course costs less. But you also see the game worse. It you aren’t used to go to San Siro I advice you to not buy a ticket for the supporter-sector (Curva Sud/Nord second stage) since it’s difficult for any newcomers to know where to stand or not to stand. The whole stadium is with numbered seats, but in the second stage of the homecurva everyone stands up, and you won’t have your own seat.
If you, despite of this, want to go there, I suggest that you go as far up, and as far away from the middle as possible. There you probably won’t find any problems.
And, don’t be surprised when people starts to smoke joints… ;)

Favorite thing: For most of the games at San Siro it’s always possible to buy your matchtickets at the stadium. There are two “biglietteria”, ticket-offices at the stadium where you can buy tickets to all sectors, except for the away-sector, in the stadium.
One is close to the Curva Nord, and the other one at the Curva Sud. Ticketprices in normal range from 10/12 euro up to 150 euro for the most expensive.

Favorite thing: Io, tifosa del AC Milan. ;-)

Yes, I am a huge fan of AC Milan - the team popularly known simply as 'Milan' (pronounced as "Mee-Lan"). Needless to add, I would definitely drop by the San Siro Museum and admire all Milan's exhibits on display e.g. the great captain's prized No. 3 shirt. I believe when Paolo Maldini eventually retires (touch wood!), the club will retire his shirt i.e. the No. 3 shirt will no longer be made available to any Milan players. That's in recognition of Maldini's devotion to the club and the many trophies he had collected for Milan - his club.

Favorite thing: Milan is the home to 2 of Italy's ruling SOCCER families...er, I mean - teams. Yes - AC Milan and Inter Milan both play at the Stadio San Siro which is one of the finest football stadiums the world has ever seen.... except if you're a professional footballer and have to contend on playing on the hard artificial turf (read: footballers will be easily prone to injuries on such a hard surface).

For Milan tifosi/ soccer fans, if you're interested to grab tickets for Milan football matches - be it a Champions League or Serie A match, you can contact either your hotel concierge or order online via AC Milan's official website.

Fondest memory: Going to the San Siro to cheer for my favorite team - Milan. I have been a fan of Milan since I was teenager. All thanks to the great legend himself - Signor Paolo Maldini, the Great One. ;-) These days, I also save some of my cheers for Sheva aka Andriy Shevchenko.

P.S. If you're not a soccer fan (or worse - if you're an Inter fan!) --> please don't leave nasty comments on my page OK? :-) I know you won't....

Favorite thing: What's my favorite thing about Milan?

Definitely - catching a soccer match at the San Siro!

The Giuseppe Meazza Stadio or San Siro was built in honor of the great Italian player, Giuseppe Meazza. The stadium contains a museum dedicated to football memoribilia for AC Milan and Inter-Milan - the 2 teams who call San Siro 'home'. Inside you can find memoribilia, photographs, penants, boots and other items which trace 100 years of the "beautiful game" in Italy. Discover what lies beneath the Italian's passion for football and why Milan and Inter are such popular clubs not only in Milan but also, the world over! I mean, I'm a Singaporean by birth and am also a stauch Milan supporter. ;-)

The San Siro was recently renovated and it now boasts of 2 fully equipped TV Studios.

How's that for state-of-the-art! These Italians are amazing. They are so darn good in everything that they do...!