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AS Roma 1 Newcastle United 0 A day in Rome, by Grant
The day began for me with an upgrade on the BA flight out of Gatwick as the flight was chocka ... we proceeded to quaff the free champagne and smoked Salmon .. mind you i dont think the BA staff were expecting me to pull off me jumper to reveal the NUFC strip in seat 1a ! You can take the lad out of Newcastle , but you cant take Newcastle out of the lad . A very long taxi ride into the city centre ensued .. mind its a bit disconcertinng when the taxi driver is slick and good looking ... nowt like getting off the plane at Newcastle and jumping in a Noda ! After seemingly circuiting Rome and the historic sites for 45 mins .. we were 40 quid lighter for the pleasure ( very suspect indeed ) . Hotel we stayed in was a throwback to the 70's with Gold leaf embossing on everything , but an amply filled mini bar and local soccer TV ... 10 minutes of this was enough to put the S**ts right up us and we decided the Spanish steps was a good idea for a few pre match liveners . The taxi took us through the Villa Borghese ( large park ) where we went past several hundred Toon fans being herded into buses by the old bill .. and we started to wonder what was going on . When we got to the centre we realised why .. the heavy handed Carbinieri had decided anything in black and white that moved , should be put on a bus and taken away from any bars ( this was the point i put me jumper back on ! ) After a good walk we managed to find a bar with a few lads in , who'd managed to avoid the escort and we drank the local brew for a few hours before catching a cab to the ground . We were dropped about 1/4 mile away and the first thing we could hear was UN I T E D ! I knew this was gonna be big ! Approach to the ground is phenomenal as anyone who has been there will testify and the sound of the Roma fans was just terrific ... A very extensive set of searches before we managed to get in led us to a great spectacle ... a ground a lot fuller than we expected and 2 - 2.5 thousand Toon fans in great voice . Roma , roma va fancula ( As learnt from some Lazio fans ) And Lazio , lazio , Lazio all went down a treat ! The most amazing thing was about 200 or so Peruvians in our end ??? How the hell did they get tickets ... They sang Nobby's name throughout and were a great laugh. There was also a good amount of Lazio fans in our end too , mind you why some people were singing there's only 1 Paul Gascoigne fails me . We all saw the game and I spose a damn site better than I did , but they were great with Hughes and Dabs just excelling themselves . The passion was incredible and rates as one of the best performances I've seen for a long while . Half time saw some great action shots of Toon fans .. did you see that on the Telly ?? Fat bloke bobbing up and down ?? Hilarious . Half time pizzas brought a new edge to the eating experince but at a quid a throw we werent complaining . The bogs resembled Watford , and the shitters were truly a hole in the floor with grips on the floor .
A few drinks back at the hotel and reflection on a fine evening . Mind you the reception cal, at 5.00 am this morning was not well received , and the flight home at 7.00 am was really not required ! I wish i could say Veni , Vidi , Vici .. but hell i was expecting a rout .. and instead saw a gutsy display , something Newcastle have lacked for years is bite and this team looks like it has it . I've come away with a warm feeling inside , and cant wait for the return leg . Cheers from a very knackered Grant |
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Second
half and i thought the lads fought hard and really never looked like
giving a goal away .. disappointing penalty , but in a stadium like
that , that kind of thing was always gonna happen , and really
commendable that the floodgates didnt open . Before their goal the
Roma fans were very quiet , but was magnificent to see the flares and
flags come out even if it was for ten minutes .. a rousing You only
sing when you're winning , followed by every conceivable song we have
shut them up sharpish . The rest of the match was a tight afffair
really , and as the freeze set in , the final ten minutes heard a
constant chant of We are The Geordies , the Geordie **** boys ,
etc.... I dont think the Romans knew what to make of us ! Post match
saw Freddie fletcher get abuse hurled at him as the corporate box
were kept back like ourselves ... one gredy bastard ensued . Barton
and Pistone's offering of shirts to the away fans was good to see ,
and at last you can say these lads are playing with real passion . We
were kept behind for an hour , and none of us allowed to leave the
ground before being ferried onto buses ( whether you wanted to get on
or not .. you weren't gonna argue with these mercenary cops ) and
driven in convoy with Polizi cavalcade of vans with blue lights ..
all the way back to the station . Which was truly dramatic and ever
so over the top Italian . we all emptied onto the streets and the
fight for cabs went on for a good hour ( and it was bloody freezing ) .
