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Neuchâtel, Swiss football away days

Neuchâtel, Swiss football away days 8

My next Swiss football trip brought me to the pretty city of Neuchâtel, halfway between Geneva and Zurich and in the heartland of the celebrated Swiss watchmaking industry.

Neuchâtel, Swiss football away daysNeuchâtel (“Newcastle”) is a small city and the capital of the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel located on Lake Neuchâtel, in the shadow of the Jura mountains and facing the Alps, in West Switzerland, not too far from the border of France. The French speaking town has a population of about 34,000 people and was originally part of the Holy Roman Empire and later under Prussian control from 1707 until 1848. (Prussia, a historically prominent German state, in case you didn’t know!!)

The city of Neuchâtel established itself at the edge of the lake, and from prehistory to today it has grown from the shore up to the river Seyon and beyond. 

Neuchâtel also has a pretty castle overlooking the city, built by Rudolph III of Burgundy way back in 1011, highlighting its long Burgundian History (East Germanic tribe) 

Neuchâtel is well renowned for its watch industry (the home of the first Quartz watch in 1967), but not only that it also has a fine reputation in the micro-technology and high-tech industrial fields. During the last 20 years, the city and its surrounds have attracted many leading companies in the high-tech sectors such as medical technology, micro technology, biotechnology, machines & equipment, IT and clean technologies. Tobacco giant Philip Morris is one of the main employers in the city, in the suburb of Serrières, with 1,200 employees in its cigarette manufacturing plant and in its international research and development centre.

Neuchâtel, Swiss football away daysAs for a day out, Neuchâtel’s has an attractive Old Town, with about 140 street fountains, a handful of which date from the 16th century, and classical Burundian architecture with rows of contiguous narrow houses on three or four storeys and through corridors. The beautiful Alps far off in the distance on view from the lake also offer something to behold. 

Getting to the city is easy enough, as Neuchâtel railway station is within easy reach from Olten (and so Bern/Zurich/Basel) and Geneva, and has a high speed TGV connection to Paris, within 4 hours. On the road, Bern, Geneva, Basel and Zürich which are respectively 58 km (36 mi), 122 km (76 mi), 131 km (81 mi) and 153 km (95 mi) away by car. 

 

Pub watch 

Neuchâtel, Swiss football away daysPMU Race Cafe 

Address: Rue de Gibraltar 1, 2000 Neuchâtel

http://horseraces.pmu.fr/

Neuchâtel, Swiss football away daysThis place wasn’t to far off the stadium so ventured in. Was intrigued as it had horse racing on, and seemed to double as a betting shop, a first for me to see in Switzerland. Fancied a flutter but unfortunately (or fortunately) it was only French racing so let that pass. 

Neuchâtel, Swiss football away daysWas heaving with Xamax fans who were very boisterous and all good fun. Had a few cheap lagers and sat down to enjoy the “show” the home fans were putting on…….smoke bombs and pyro, horse play on the roundabout, all good fun.

Good, friendly service, and not a bad spot to drink so close to the ground. 

See that on Google maps it has the “Sultan Restaurant & Bollywood Bar” as the same address, but I think that might be upstairs from this joint. 

Antidote Lounge Bar 

Address: Place de la Gare 1, Neuchatel 2000

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Neuchâtel, Swiss football away daysHad a few beers, well quite a few, in this bar, waiting for my train. Bar is dead handy as it is right next to the train station which is just damn perfect for me! Bar right at the door, dont have to make any effort so! Managed to grab a Bulmers cider, so long since I had one, sure why not. Straight from the bottle, nice and cold. Add to that a good few more. 

Neuchâtel, Swiss football away daysSmall bar, but quite busy, as you can imagine what with it beside the train station. Service wasn’t exactly very friendly, bit grumpy in fact, dont think they were Swiss to be honest. A fella, serving behind the bar, Jesus a smile wouldn’t kill you! The waitress wasn’t much better. Ok we get it, a lot of noisy football fans are in town, but Jesus no one is forcing you to do work in a bar!

Anyway the bar has a small seating area outside, and this is where I met a nice man who makes a living doing side video shots at football and sports events, and sells them on to the TV. He was very friendly telling me all about his business, and was good to chat to while I was waiting for my train, for the few hours or so I was there (it wasn’t delayed, I was!). Perhaps I will meet him again at another Swiss match, I hope so as I really was intrigued by his job.  

Bar was fine, tell the staff to lighten up, that’s all!

 

Neuchâtel Xamax FCS

Arena/Stadium: Stade de la Maladiere

Location: rue de la Pierre-a-Mazel 10, Neuchatel 2000

Capacity: 12,500

Manager: Michel Decastel

Founded: 1912

League: Swiss Super League

Club home page 

Honours:
Swiss Championships: 2 (Last 1988)

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Neuchâtel Xamax FCS, based in the city of Neuchâtel, are a funny team in that they have had a few different incarnations and guises. Originally there was a team called FC Xamax founded in 1912, but that merged with FC Cantonal Neuchatel (Swiss champions in 1916) in 1970 to form Neuchâtel Xamax.

Neuchâtel, Swiss football away daysThe name Xamax (and club nickname) comes from legendary Swiss international ‘Xam’ Max Abegglen, one of the founding members of the club. 

In 2012 the club had hit a severe financial explosion and was declared bankrupt, ceasing to operate as a club. The club was still in existence but this time in the 2. Liga Interregional, the fifth tier of the Swiss football league system. They came out as champions at the end of the season, winning promotion.  

Neuchâtel, Swiss football away daysIn May 2013 a merger happened between Neuchâtel Xamax and FC Serrières, another side from Neuchâtel, to create Xamax Neuchâtel FCS, to continue top tier football in the city. The quick success continued as the team won back to back promotions to find themselves at the Challenge League division, three successive promotions to the second tier of Swiss football. And then in the 2017–18 season, the club were finally promoted back to the big time, to the Swiss Super League. It was has if the near death of the club had never happened! 

In terms of honours and achievements, the club has won the Swiss Super League
twice, back to back Championship wins in 1987 and in 1988. The club took part in five Swiss Cup finals, but never managed to win one, with their last defeat against Sion in 2011.

Neuchâtel, Swiss football away daysAs for Europe they have had some small success, relatively speaking for a small club. In the 1981–82 season they managed to get to the last 8th of the Uefa Cup, beating Sparta Prague, Malmo, Sporting Lisbon along the way before eventually losing to Hamburg, narrowly 2-3 on agg. If you thought that was impressive, well in 1985–86 season they repeated the trick, once again getting to the last 8th of the Uefa, but once again losing out 2-3 on agg, this time to the mighty Real Madrid, not without a brilliant 2-0 home win though. Pretty good stuff I think. They haven’t since reached those heights, but they did knock out Celtic in the 1991–92 UEFA Cup, four of those goals coming from the Egyptian footballing legend, Hossam Hassan, a result I well remember at the time as the Scottish giants were definitely not expecting their trashing, 5-1 in Switzerland. In that competition they were knocked out by Real Madrid, 4-1, but not without a lovely one nil win at home. In the 1987–88 European Cup, they also had an impressive victory over Bayern Munich at home, 2-1, but alas going out 2-3 on agg. So one can see, for a small club, they have had some notable achievements in European football. 

Legendary players to have played for the club include Bulgarian defender Trifon Ivanov, him of the sullen eyes, Egyptian star Hossam Hassan, Joseph Ndo who later became a huge hit in Ireland, Senegalese pair Henri Camara and Papa Bouba Diop, Irishman Don Givens and Alain Geiger and Christian Gross (of London tube fame). As for managers, Roy Hodgson had a two year stint with them in the early 90’s. 

Neuchâtel, Swiss football away daysThe team play in red with black stripes and line out in the Stade de la Maladière stadium where the club play its home games. Opened in 2007 the ground has a total capacity of 12,500 supporters. The attendance record stands at 25,500 spectators in the undeveloped Stade de la Maladière when, in 1986, Real Madrid came to town in the second leg of the last eight of the Uefa Cup to see the team win out 2-0 which sadly wasn’t enough to overturn the tie. Nowadays the stadium has been renovated to include a shopping centre, a sports halls and even a fire station! But its not all that impressive as the ground has a fucking plastic pitch, urgh! It is owned by the city council. 

FC La Chaux-de-Fonds could be considered their rivals in a cantonal sense, but the two teams are separated by a few divisions, as La Chaux play in the third tier, Xamax in the first. 

To the game

Neuchâtel Xamax 1 – 1 FC Sion

07.10.2018  • Stade de la Maladière

 Lenjani 29′
     Nuzzolo 37′ (Xamax)

Attendance: 6336

Neuchâtel, Swiss football away daysGetting to the ground was dead easy as its not too far from the station, and you head downwards. The Maladière stadium is near the lovely Lake of Neuchâtel, and a stones throw from the red bricked Notre-Dame Cathedral that dominates the local skyline, you really couldn’t get a better location for a ground. 

Apparently this is considered the French-speaking derby of Switzerland. I didn’t know that before I got the tickets, but I had a sense that there was a bit of a bite to this game as the atmosphere pre game was interesting! Also there was an army of coppers everywhere! 

Neuchâtel, Swiss football away daysNot the best game in the world, few chances, a lot of slow build up play, and huffing and puffing and hard endeavor, but will little quality on display from both teams.

Xamax had the first chance of the game when a header came off the far post, but it was actually FC Sion who grabbed the first goal, when a fabulous through ball by Bastien sends Lenjani  clean through, easily slotting home for the opener. A good goal, nice one. 

But the lead didn’t last that long, as Xamax equalized when Nuzzolo hit into an empty net after a cross caused all sorts of havoc in the Sion defence. 

Neuchâtel, Swiss football away daysAfter that chances were few and far between, with both teams having an opportunity to steal a winner, both the game petered out for a draw. A fair result to be honest.

Shout out to the Sion fans who were excellent throughout, singing all game, and some quality pyro. Top job. 

Clashes between the Sion fans and the police after the game or so I read the next day in the papers. Not surprised as the police operation was overkill. It really is taking the mick to expect fans not to react to that kind of show of strength by the coppers. Funny how I always miss the real fun, its not that I avoid it, but I am forever stuck in a bar and never get to see any action. Ah well, next time……………..lol

Goals of the game here.

Overall

Enjoyed my day out in Neuchâtel, a pleasant enough city, had good craic in both bars, and the game atmosphere was good fun, from both sets of fans. Ground is ok, bit non-descript, but handy to get to and back again to the station. Would have liked to have spent more time in the centre of the town, but I guess that just gives me an incentive to return for another day out. 

Neuchâtel, Swiss football away days

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FC Zurich

Zürich revisited

Zürich, Swiss football away days 7

My next Swiss football trip brought me back to Zürich, once again in the big city, and once again to the the Letzigrund stadium. Last time it was to see Grasshoppers, but this time I am here to see their city rivals, FC Zurich.

Zürich, the largest city in Switzerland with just over 400,000 people, is located in the centre of Switzerland on the northwestern shore of Lake Zürich. The city stretches on both sides of the River Limmat, which flows out from the Lake.

FC ZurichA German speaking city, Zürich was founded by the Romans in 15 BC. However, early settlements have been found dating back more than 6400 years ago. The Romans founded the city as a tax collecting point for goods trafficked on the Limmat river. 

Zurich is a city that always rates very highly in “Quality of Life Surveys” carried out here and there by various agencies. With its wealth, general safety, cleanliness, and a wide selection of interesting sights and places to visit, top class universities, fiscally attractive with a lowish tax base: yes it is certainly a lovely city to visit, and even to settle down in. 

The city also has a rich cultural tradition with many high-quality museums and art galleries, but for someone who is into more modern pursuits, the city holds one of the largest and most popular dance music festivals in the world, a techno “street parade” around August every year that attracts about a million ravers and the like dancing alongside the lake Zurich. 

FC ZurichZürich is a major hub for railways, roads, and air traffic for Switzerland and for Europe. Both Zürich Airport and railway station are the largest and busiest in the country, and the city has an extensive local train, bus and city wide tram network. The network also includes boats on the lake and river, funicular railways and even a cable car between Adliswil and Felsenegg. Zürich train station is the world’s most frequently served railway station, with 2915 trains every day, and has high speed trains coming from France, Germany and Austria passing through, and it is also directly connected with Zürich Airport which is less than 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) away. 

I like Zürich, its a lovely city, looking very nice at night, people mulling about, a good atmosphere in the city air. The old town looks great, albeit a bit too posh and stylish for me but a nice city to walk around all the same.

Oh by the way, before I forget The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), otherwise known as the corrupt bastards running, our ruining, the beautiful game, have their headquarters in the city!

Pub watch 

The Lion Pub

Address: Oetenbachgasse 24, 8001 Zürich

http://thelion.ch/en/

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FC ZurichFirst pint of the day was to be in the Lion Pub, an English Pub, near the city centre. Was very busy with some premiership football on the box, but still plenty of space to sit down.

Got a nice seat at the round bar, and ordered a lager, can’t remember what, but it was served nice and cold, bar tender friendly, efficient and fast on the draw. Liked the Lion logo on the beer glass. 

FC ZurichNice interior, very swanky (wooden but all smart), good cozy atmosphere at the time, British style pub grub on the menu, but also some Swiss dishes, British and Irish beer on tap and in bottle. Also, while I was there they also had a gin tasting stall which looked pretty cool. 

Nice classy pub with a good atmosphere, nice pint that did the business, and will be back again next time I am on the town in Zurich. 

 

Rive Gauche

Address: Talstrasse 1, 8001 Zurich

https://www.agauche.ch/de/

FC Zurich

Got completely lost following my google maps on my absolute shite mobile phone, Switel, a Swiss made mobile. Now the Swiss do a lot of things great, the trains run on time, the cheese is tasty and the direct democracy works just fine, but one thing they cant do is make proper mobiles! Switel was a hopeless mobile, and on this day it got me completely lost, and the battery died so quick. 

I was planning on getting to another game before the big one later on in the evening, but I got completely lost and so giving up hope, I decided to just fuck it and go to the first bar I passed. And that bar just so happened to be Rive Gauche.

Now I could tell from the fancy exterior that this might be a bit to plush for a simple man like myself, but man I was dead on my feet and thirsty too boot. Ventured in I did. 

FC ZurichA very nice interior, all modern and smart, and the bar was within easy reach so sat myself down and ordered a Carlsberg, which was served with a nice big friendly smile by the bar lady who also gave me some nuts to nibble on. Carlsberg was great, lovely and cool, and I had another one as I was beginning to settle in nicely, that and the fact that the bar lady was kind enough to recharge my mobile. 

Not particularly busy, I was the only one drinking, but a few customers were in the restaurant just off from the bar. They do fine dining here, goats cheese, marinated salmon, chick pea croquets, eggplant caviar, Greek yoghurt and all that bollix and I can only imagine the prices, so the cold beer and nuts were enough for me I can tell you! 

Enjoyed my time here, was settling in real good at the lovely long wooden bar with my nice cold beer and a friendly environment in a chic bar that had a nice ambient feel. Would love to come back when the sun goes down and try some of their cocktails. 

 

Restaurant Schlachthof (Alpstübli)

Address: Herdernstrasse 59 , Zurich 8004

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Just across from the Letzigrund Stadium there is this restaurant and bar or “Restaurant slaughterhouse”, it is a big place and easy to spot. They mostly concentrate on Swiss cuisine, plain and simple, and cold beer to refresh supporters before and after the game. 

FC ZurichI went in and sat down at the bar, was hungry too so ordered some food to accompany my beer. Service was very friendly. Had some regular local lager and got some fries and a steak burger, nothing too fancy! The beer was nice and cold but unfortunately the food was rubbish. Just tasteless, small portioned and nothing special, bit disappointing. Sit down food should be a bit better than this. 

FC ZurichAnyway had another beer then my eye caught  a board listing various shorts and I was immediately intrigued by the hemp vodka that was an offer. Had a shot of it and it went down easy but I am not sure how much hemp was in it. 

The Alpstübli is nice and cosy, with friendly and attentive staff, and it was good to have a few beers before the match as its so close to the stadium one doesn’t have to worry about last minute runs to the game. Pity about the grub though. 

Nelson Pub

Address: Beatengasse 11, Zurich 8001

https://www.nelsonpubzurich.ch/

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Just before I would hit the train station to go home, I had one more pint, this time in Nelson Pub, not too far off from the train station.  I have drank in this establishment before and always found it to be a decent enough and lively watering hole. 

It is an English pub with an all wooden interior, offering up British pub grub and football and rugby on the box, it always seems to be very busy anytime I venture in, and a good atmosphere is to be had in this bar. It is not a place to sit down and have a quiet pint, that’s for sure! 

On this night the place was heaving with a boisterous and noisy but friendly atmosphere. I didn’t manage to get a seat so just stood at the small bar near the entrance.  Ordered a lager from the friendly bar lady which was served quick enough considering the big crowd that was in. Had another pint, both went down fine and enjoyed my brief stay in the Nelson pub before I hit the road home.

I like the Nelson pub, nothing pretentious, really is like a good old fashioned British pub, good beer, decent atmosphere, always attentive staff, and football and grub, what more does a person need from a bar? 

FC Zürich

FC Zurich

Arena/Stadium: Letzigrund

Location: Badenerstrasse 500, 8048 Zurich

Capacity: 26,104

Manager: Ludovic Magnin

Founded: 1896

League: Swiss Super League

Club home page 

Honours:
Swiss Championships: 12 (Last 2009)
Swiss Cup: 10 (Last 2018)

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FC Zürich, known as Der Stadtclub (“The city club”), or FCZ for short, is a Swiss football club from the city of Zürich that play in the top tier of the Swiss football league, the Super League.

The club, who play in blue and white, was founded in 1896 and is one of the oldest sports clubs in Switzerland. They have won the Swiss Super League 12 times (last in 2009) and the Swiss Cup 10 times (last win was last season 2018!)

FC ZurichThe club was founded on 1 August 1896 by former members of the three local clubs (FC Turicum, FC Viktoria, and FC Excelsior). One of them was the FC Barcelona founder, Joan Gamper. Zürich won its first national championship title in 1901–02, but did not win it again until 1923–24.
Until the 1930s, FC Zurich was also active in other sports such as rowing, boxing, athletics, handball and so on. Due to financial difficulties, the other sporting organisations ventured off to their own separate ways while FC Zurich have been a pure football club since then.

FC ZurichBetween 1925 and 1962, were the years of no success, FC Zürich winning sweet fuck all. Thirty seven years of nothing at all and including two relegation’s. Bet the supporters enjoyed those times. But not to worry,  as the “Golden Years” came during the 60’s right up to the early 80’s, Zürich winning seven championships in the years 1963, 1966, 1968, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1981, and the Swiss Cup five times in 1966, 1970, 1972, 1973, and in 1976.  FCZ also had some success in Europe getting to the semi-finals of the European Cup in the 1963–64 season, before losing to the mighty Real Madrid (8-1 on agg!), and also reaching the semi-finals in the European Cup in 1976–77, where they lost to Euro kingpins at the time, Liverpool (Losing 6-1 on agg)

They won the Championship again in 1981, but what followed was a good few barren years, even a relegation in 1988, a promotion back in 1990, and a half decent run in the Uefa Cup (1999), getting to the last eight. The noughties started off a bit better, winning the Cup in 2000 against Lausanne, and again in 2005, this time against Luzern. 

But still no league success, well that was until 2006 in one of the most dramatic final days of action when FCZ got the title from under the noses of their fiercest rival FC Basel, when Romanian defender Iulian Filipescu, of all people, scored a late, late winner in the 93rd minute of injury time to bring the trophy back to FC Zurich for the first time in 25 years. 

The new century had some mixed years, winning the league in 2006/07 as mentioned, again in the 2008–09 season, edging out Young Boys of Bern, beating AC Milan at home in the Champions League in 2009, and also winning another Swiss Cup in 2014, beating rivals FC Basel, 2-0 to match the two in 2000 and 2005. But in the 2015–16 season the unthinkable happened, the club finished last, one point behind FC Lugano and were relegated to the Swiss Challenge League, and this is despite having a team good enough to win the Swiss Cup where 4 days after relegation they beat beating FC Lugano 1-0 in the Cup final. What a weird season, relegation and cup victory.  But luckily for the Zurich fans this was only a temporary blip in their great history, as they bounced back immediately, winning the Challenge League easy enough, to secure promotion straight back to the Swiss Super League. In the 2017–2018 season they won the Swiss Cup for the tenth time, beating BSC Young Boys 2-1, to complete a turbulent and crazy few years for the Zurich club, the highs and lows but always exciting. 

FC ZurichThey play their home games at the Letzigrund in Zürich, which seats 25,000 spectators. The Letzigrund stadium is some stadium though, wide and expansive, at night with the floodlights on it is a sight to see. An athletics stadium first and foremost but owned by the city of Zurich (buying it off FC Zurich who were in debt at the time), with the popular IAAF Diamond League taking place here every year, it also has held some pretty big music concerts down through the years (both the old and updated version of the stadium) from U2, Bon Jovi, Madonna, Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Rihanna, Beyoncé, the Rolling Stones right up to today with Ed Sheeran playing in the summer of 2018. The current capacity is 25,000, for football events, 30,000, for athletics and 50,000, for concerts.

FC ZurichAs for rivals, I would say it has to be the other Zurich club, Grasshopper Club Zürich, and FC Basel. Grasshoppers are known as the club of the elite while FCZ are known as the club of the workers. But its the RotBlau who are regarded as the number one foe, mainly down to an incident in the last day of the 2005–06 season when FC Basel only needed a draw to clinch the title at home against FC Zürich, who had the cheek to spoil the party and score in the last minute to take the title. After the final whistle, players and fans from both teams started fighting on the pitch and in the stands. Since that day, fans from FC Zürich and FC Basel pretty much detest each other with a passion. 

Well known players to have played for the club include ex Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo, Nigerian World Cup star, Rashidi Yekini (I loved him!), Swiss stars Gökhan Inler, Ricardo Rodríguez and Ludovic Magnin, who is presently their manager and who was a very much underrated player in his time (In my opinion). Pele, also played with them. Abedi Pele, the legendary footballer from Ghana and ex European Cup winner with Marseille. 

To the game

FC Zurich 3 – 0 Lugano

10.03.2018  • Stadion Letzigrund, Zürich

F. Rohner 9′
                                                                            A. Nef 15′                                                                                       A. Marchesano 19′

Attendance: 8069

Wasn’t long settled in when FCZ went one nil up, after about 9 minutes when Rohner went on a mini run into the box and unleashed a cracking shot to put it past the goalie and into the far corner. What a great goal and a good start to the game for Zurich. Nice one.

FC ZurichAnd then six minutes later we had our second goal of the night, I. Aliu whipped in a nice high corner for A. Nef to power home a header where the goalie had no chance, albeit you might wonder why the Lugano defence were a little static. Two nil and I was barely even into my burger and beer!

Well 4 minutes later, and just after we had calmed down for the second goal, the third came via a bit of a hapless clearance by the Lugano goalkeeper, who ballooned it out where a smart M. Frey pass let in A. Marchesano to get space and momentum to power home the third from just outside the box, again to the goalkeepers right hand far post. Perhaps the goalkeeper could have done a bit better with some of the Zurich goals? 

FC ZurichYou just know when you get a high scoring first half that Sods law dictates that the second half will be shit, that’s the way it always goes, and sure enough it was. Zurich did the work and relaxed a little to give Lugano some chances but they were mostly long ranges efforts and Yanick Brecher in the FCZ goals was equal to anything that came at him. Lugano quite simply were not up to the same high temp and level that FC Zurich were at. 

Entertaining game all the same, some nice football on display, the FC Zurich fans were lively enough throughout, and another good match day experience was had in the Stadion Letzigrund

Goals of the game here.

 

Overall

FC ZurichLike the days out in Zurich, a great city for drinking in, wandering round and for football hopping. Albeit it is expensive but heh ho it is Switzerland. Was good seeing how much of a crowd FCZ brought to the Stadion Letzigrund compared to their rivals Grasshoppers, it was slightly bigger but not as large as I had expected considering they are the “big team” in the city! Still they were a noisy bunch all game and I just love the Stadion Letzigrund big game atmosphere. One can only imagine what its like when the place is even half full!!

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Rapperswil-Jona, Swiss football away days 6.

Rapperswil-Jona, Swiss football away days 6.

My next Swiss football trip brought me to the small medieval town of Rapperswil-Jona.

Rapperswil-Jona is a German speaking municipality, with a population of about 27,000, in the canton of St. Gallen in eastern Switzerland. Rapperswil and Jona, were actually separate municipalities until 2006, when they decided to come together in a bid to become more important in politics and society. The town is located on the shores of the beautiful Lake Zurich.

Rapperswil-Jona, Swiss football away days 6.So the town is well known for its wooden pedestrian bridge between itself and the nearby village of Hurden. Built in 2001, crossing the Lake Zürich, the bridge symbolizes the fact that over the centuries locals have crossed between Lake Zurich and Obersee, mostly on boats, but also on a wooden bridge that was constructed by Count Rudolf IV the Wise and Duke of Austria. In 1358 this structure was a handy little earner as there was a toll set up on the bridge, that’s why he was considered a wise man! It is also important to acknowledge that there were other bridges from prehistory, and in the Roman times, so this crossing was and is of an important cultural and historical significance to the local area.  

The wooden bridge linked the two shores for over 500 years, it was renovated for the last time in 1847. Due to other means of transport and alternative routes the idea of the toll fell away. In 1873 the Swiss federal parliament approved the construction of a stone dam with railway tracks and a road and construction began two years later. This bridge is adjacent to the wooden bridge that we see today, so there are two bridges side by side. In 2001 the old wooden bridge was replaced with a more safer and more enjoyable pedestrian oak built bridge. So what we have today is the longest wooden bridge in Switzerland at 841 metres long. (2,759 ft), and is listed as a heritage site of national significance.

Rapperswil-Jona, Swiss football away days 6

To get to the town is easy as it is well linked to Zurich by rail, with many trains to the city every hour, a 35 minute journey. If not in a rush, one can also get a boat from Zurich that stops in the town regularly throughout the day.

I found the town to be pretty pleasant, nice to walk around the Old Town on an early Sunday morning. Not too far from the train station, is the historic wooden bridge that got my attention and is stated as the number one thing to do in the town re TripAdvisor, to which I walked along to the end and back. There is a nature reserve around the bridge where one can see some birds and other wildlife. The views of the lake and the Alps in the distance are lovely, and the walk is nice enough, but to be honest it wasn’t anything particularly extraordinary.

Rapperswil-Jona, Swiss football away days 6.

Went up to the castle walls to have a wander. The second thing recommend to do in Rapperswil from TripAdvisor!  Didn’t go in, as I went to the castle in Thun and to be honest see one small castle you have seen them all, at least Swiss Castles, this isn’t Wales! So I ventured around the grounds. Built in the 13th Century by Count Rudolf II and his son Rudolf III von Rapperswil. The castle also has a Polish museum inside it which isn’t particularly clear to me why, but its there nevertheless! Ok I know that a Polish émigré, Count Wladyslaw Broel-Plater who purchased the Castle in 1870 and refurbished it, set up the museum, but why? To the south of the Castle is an old Vineyard, and to the north a small deer park. There is also a nice rose garden near the grounds. Either way the Castle, perched on a hill, is where you can get some decent views of the town and of Lake Zurich. 

Funny thing about Rapperswil is that, according to media tabloids, the place is heaving with Nazi’s, and that the town is where a group of neo-boys have settled in. A local tattoo parlour and the Boomerang bar, which I visited, is owned by a Neo Nazi. Can read it here. To be perfectly frank I couldn’t give a flying…….I dont care much for a persons politics when I sit down for a pint. Not that I am apolitical but it seems some people like to play a game where you have to choose from one bunch of cunts on the left to another bunch of cunts on the right, both equally statist. Well they can play that game, and the media, but as long as they serve me a cold one and don’t bother me, then jog on. 

 

Pub watch 

Nautical Pub

Address: Seequai 1, Rapperswil 8640

http://www.seerestaurant-steinbock.ch/Nautic-Pub/

Rapperswil-Jona, Swiss football away days 6.Arriving early to the town, it was good to see at least one bar open on the promenade. Nice looking bar from the outside, ventured in to a very small bar.  A few people came in, looked like they were in town for some sort of sporting gig, so the small bar, with an interesting wooden and nautical themed decor, was actually quite busy. Ordered a Falken bier (from Schaffhausen), poured well and not too bad to drink for the first beer of the day. 

Rapperswil-Jona, Swiss football away days 6.

Is beside the much larger restaurant Steinbock, which owns the small bar.  It also has a terrace but the weather was not suitable to sit outside on this day.

A nice bar, cosy and very comfortable. Good friendly service, decent beer, and a nice start to the day. 

 

Boomerang Bar

Address: Stampfstrasse 78 , 8645 Jona

http://www.boomerangbar.ch/boomerang-jona.html

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Rapperswil-Jona, Swiss football away days 6

Not too far from the Rapperswil-Jona ground is an Australian style bar. Yeah sure why not!

I was very surprised to see it nestled in the middle of an industrial estate, this bar looks a little out of place. I was wondering if it was even open as the surroundings looked a bit dead. 

Open it was, and it actually had a few punters in. 

Rapperswil-Jona, Swiss football away days 6

It is a bar that obviously caters for large parties and music events as it is quite spacious and looks like a decent place for a gig. Had a big area reserved for smokers as well, at the side. 

Had all the typical Aussie paraphernalia one would expect and a crocodile hanging from the roof of the bar, yeah hats off to the interior designer as they really did a good job with getting the right mood for the bar.  

Ordered a Coopers Pale Ale, a popular beer from Adelaide, and it went down well, nice and cold. Served with a smile and also got a complimentary basket of popcorn. 

Was a nice place to relax before the big game, and happy to know that I didn’t have to walk to far to the match, with the ground just round the corner. Sweet. 

 

FC Rapperswil-Jona

Rapperswil-Jona, Swiss football away days 6.

 

Arena/Stadium: Stadion Grünfeld

Location: Blaubrunnenstrasse, 8645 Rapperswil-Jona

Capacity: 2,500

Manager: Urs Meier

Founded: 1928

League: Challenge League

Club home page 

sekretariat@fcrj.ch

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Rapperswil-Jona, Swiss football away days 6.

Founded in 1928 Fussball Club Rapperswil-Jona, the 2017/18 season sees the team play for the first time in the second highest league in Switzerland, the Challenge League, after winning promotion the year before in what was the clubs best achievement in its 90 year long history.

The club play in red out of the Grünfeld stadium, a small ground with a capacity of 2,500, which was opened in 2014.  

 

To the game

FC Rapperswil-Jona 1 – 2 FC Vaduz

11.02.2018  • Stadion Grünfeld, Rapperswil-Jona

Mathys 27′ (Vaduz)
Konrad 47′ (Vaduz)
Elmer (FCRJ, Pen) 83′

Attendance: 780

Rapperswil-Jona, Swiss football away days 6.

Enjoyed my time at the match. Not a bad game, good atmosphere, beer and food was flowing, and the locals and staff were in fine spirits. The only thing that was a tad bit annoying was the weather! Game started of in decent, albeit wet, conditions, but by the second half snow was coming down heavy enough that by the end of the game I was well frozen.  

Rapperswil-Jona, Swiss football away days 6.Vaduz started the game much better and scored after about half an hour, a well worked goal deservedly putting them in the front. Devic squaring the ball lovely for Mathys to easily slot home. 

After the break they got their second, and looked well in control of the game. Konrad close range. 

FC Rapperswil-Jona did have their moments, but the Vaduz goalkeeper was in fine form, pulling off a few good saves to keep Vaduz 2 up. 

Rapperswil-Jona, Swiss football away days 6.

But he couldn’t stop a penalty that was given to Rapperswil, for a hand ball. That resulted in the last few minutes with Vaduz hanging on, just about. Rapperswil had that golden chance to equalise but again the Vaduz goalkeeper,Peter Jehle, saved brilliantly to keep the three points for the visiting team.  

Enjoyable game, and fair play to both teams for that as the conditions were not suitable for good football so well done there. The better team won too, Vaduz just having that bit more quality.

I also would like to say that everyone associated with Rapperswil, from the ticket sellers, to the stewards and the guys and gals selling the beer/hot food were all extremely friendly and a credit to themselves and their town. Really great time and would love to return again sometime in the future, but perhaps on a hot summers day!!!

Rapperswil-Jona, Swiss football away days 6.

Overall

Enjoyed my short time in Rapperswil-Jona, a nice little town with its own character. The match and the football ground hop was good fun, the food and the beer was tops, and I will definitely be back in the near future. Nice one little Rapperswil-Jona!

Rapperswil-Jona, Swiss football away days 6.

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France V Croatia World Cup 2018

France V Croatia

Beers: Final of Thisdrinkinglife’s Beer World Cup: 

Similar in the football, Croatia were also strong on the beer front, coming tops in Beer Group D, with Ožujsko and Bura Brew doing the business for them, they then went on to beat Australia and Fosters in the last 16, and Portugal and SuperBock in the last 8. But their run came to an end when they were knocked out in the last four by  a strong Germany duo (Zombräu,Brauer & Co., and Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose).

France, on the other hand, (Kronenbourg 1664) unfortunately didn’t even make it out of my Beer World Cup Group C in a relatively tough group with Denmark (Carlsberg), Peru (Cusqueña) and Australia (Fosters), so Russia ended up in my beer final, and not France.

Russia V Germany

As Uruguay didn’t qualify for my Beer World Cup last 16 (I couldn’t source any beer from Uru), I made Russia winner (Knightberg) of Beer Group A, they went on to beat Spain (Estrella) in the last 16. Then in the last eight they met Nigeria (Guinness Special Export), who came second in my Beer Group D. In the semi final they came up against the Swiss trio of Dr.Brawolf’s Red Ale, Soo.Soors Swiss Ale and Celestial Beer’s Le Dermier Ciel, all excellent on the day and although they were favourites to progress the Russians surprised with a Russian Brettness beer and a Hefeweizen which simply blew me away. The Russian’s managed to pull it off and make my Beer final against a heavily fancied Swiss formation. 

Germany (Zombräu,Brauer & Co., and Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose) might be out of the football World Cup, but they are still very much alive in my Beer World Cup, powering to victory in Beer group F, no problems there, while in the last 16 they beat Serbia (Kabinet). In the last eight, Germany then want on to beat England (London Pride), beating them just about, 2-1. In the last four they came up against Croatia (Ožujsko) but the Germans were stronger with Zombräu and Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose doing the business, and although Croatia  performed well in the tussle with their German rivals, they just lost out in the end, just missing the final, 2-1. Germany making another of my Beer World Cup’s.        

Knightberg Microbrewery

                   Knightberg                       

Zombräu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                        Zombräu                                     Brauer & Co., Funky trout n Pretty sperm whale!

     Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose    

         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read how today’s teams qualified for my Beer World Cup Final here

Many beers were drank, too many perhaps, and a lot of fast food was consumed. A very enjoyable competition resulted in Russia winning ThisDrinkingLife’s Beer World Cup 2018, beating Germany in a closely matched final. 

The final was contested by Germany, Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose and Zombräu and Russia, Knightberg.

First match up was Zombräu’s Richtfest a nice and tasty Heller Bock which looked fantastic, hoppy and did the business up against a Knightberg Chocolate Stout, which tasted fantastic, the vanilla aroma and taste very strong and very tasty, and that is why Russia take the lead in this first match up. Stouts can be hot or miss but this one from Russia got it right, the chocolate was very strong on both the nose and in taste, and I got a wide array of flavours, from cherry, caramel to vanilla, just lovely. 

Next up was one of the highlights of the beer competition for me, Germany’s Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose their original, which as to be expected was delicious. Getting the salt and coriander all the time, through the nose and on the taste. I am guessing it is a style that people either like or not, but I love it. 

Against such a strong challenger Russia needed a big hitter, so step forward Knightberg Les Cinq Premiers, a sour red, coming in a big 75cl bottle. I wasn’t expecting a challenge as I really love the gose beers, but I have to say I was surprised with this Premiers real brew. It was very fruity and tasted more like a good red wine than a beer, and like a good red wine over time it was very pleasant. I have to give this match up as a draw, as the Premier was still long in the memory a few days after, the flavours still reverberating around my mind. It was a bloody good beer. 

So that result means that Russia win my Beer World Cup 2-1! And like the great World Cup they held they were also a big success in this years ThisDrinkingLife’s World Cup 2018!

 

PreGame:

England V Croatia: Another good game, and it started with a cracker, Trippier banging in a brilliant free kick after about 5 minutes. The skill to get it up and over and down was brilliant. Not a bad way at all to score your first goal for England.

This spurred England on, and it was them as they dictated the play and had a few more chances to increase the lead. Lingard should have scored, or at least hit the target when Alli set him up perfectly, while Kane had two bites of the cherry from close on but couldn’t connect. Those chances would come back to bite them on the ass later!

Croatia came more into it in the second half as England let the foot off the gas, Brozovic hitting the post. That should have woke England up but it didn’t. Sterling still on the pitch, fannying around, while Kane not showing any leadership on the pitch. Perisic, on the other hand, was showing grit by pushing his side forward every chance he had, and all that hard work came off as he scored the equalizer beating the defender to shot for goal, a bit too easy for Croatia. England were now on the ropes. Brozovic missed another chance, an empty goal after a rare blunder by Pickford. Vrsaljko also had Stones clear off the line with a shot. Mandzukic was excellent and had a great shot well saved by Pickford, while Vida at the other end had Sterling, and Rashford when he came on, had them both in his pocket, well defended considering the speed of those two players.  And then at the centre of it all Modric pinning the ball all around the pitch, brilliant to watch, a world class performance if I ever saw one. 

But England held out, just about, to extra time. Expect they didn’t really, as Croatia, continued into the added time, with more of the same, and it was no surprise at all when Mandzukic scored a perfect strikers goal, as the English defence fell asleep and pretty much put Croatia into the final. You just knew England had no idea how to come back after that. Game over!

Fair dues to Croatia, they well deserved to make the final as they are a better footballing team and Modric surely deserves to play in the final after all his years of entertainment that he has given the footballing world. 

France V Belgium: Great start to the game from both teams, Pogba to Mbappe but Courtois quick off his line, a Hazard shot which Varane just headed over. Alderweireld then with a tight angled shot that seen Lloris saving superbly, up the other end Pavard seeing his shot well saved by Courtois. If anything it was the goalkeepers that were the busiest in the opening exchanges. 

At half time I would have said that Belgian were bossing it a bit, especially in the centre with Kevin pinging the ball around, so France on the 51st minute kind of scored against the run of play, when Umtiti headed to the back of the net from a corner, one nil to France. 

This fired up the Belgians, and again Lloris  was called into action to save from Witsel this time.  But for all their huffing and puffing Belgium really couldn’t break the France back line which was well marshaled by Pogba, of all people! France managed to hold out for a memorable victory against a very good Belgium team. If they can beat a very good Belgium team then I wouldn’t be surprised if they can do one over an equally good Croatian team. 

So France won the big thing and eased to a 4-2 victory over a determined Croatian team who hadn’t anything else to give in a very memorable final. 

The game started off all Croatia, moving the ball around the pitch dominating possession, so naturally France went up and scored! The story of their World Cup! Griezmann got a free and from it he floated a lovely ball into the box that Mandzukic unfortunately headed into his own net. Unlucky. 

But not to worry, Croatia came right back, within ten minutes they were back level, Perisic with a super goal, full of determination, banged the ball past Lloris. Brilliant.

Just as we settled down there was more drama, again in another ten minutes, Griezmann scored from a penalty. Perisic accidentally handled the ball in the box, but it was deemed to be on purpose by VAR. The ref messed this one up big time, for such a big game and to get it so badly wrong. Tsk.

Second half Croatia came straight out of the blocks with Rebic forcing Lloris to make a fine save. But France were also dangerous on the break, Mbappé turning Vida inside out unleashing a shot well saved by Subasic. They did get that goal not long after, Pogba scoring with a lucky goal, missing with his first effort then scoring from the rebound. Good goal, but again a tad bit unlucky for Croatia.

Game over from Croatia, 3-1 down was a bit too much for them. And when Mbappé scored with a decent shot, again Vida put to pasture, France had have a foot on the winners podium.

The we had a what the fuck moment when Lloris had a brain freeze and tried to beat  Mandzukic. he didn’t, and let in a goal that more than likely cost him the golden glove award for the best goalie of the tournament. we then had 70 minutes to see if croatia could get another one back, but alas it wasn’t to be, and France went onto win the cup.

Overall a great World Cup, one with many twists and turns, some new stars, some old start fading away, a World Cup that was so open that in reality any country could have won the damn thing. I hope Qatar 2022 will be even half as good as this. 

Music to get you in the mood

Bob Sinclar – Love Generation (France) V Father – Machina (Croatia)

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Beer World Cup 2018 Final

ThisDrinkinglife’s Beer World Cup Final now gets under way. Click on pictures and links to get a general review and info on the beers we will be a drinking during the Football World Cup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Russia V Germany

As Uruguay didn’t qualify for my Beer World Cup last 16 (I couldn’t source any beer from Uru), I made Russia winner (Knightberg) of Beer Group A, they went on to beat Spain (Estrella) in the last 16. Then in the last eight they met Nigeria (Guinness Special Export), who came second in my Beer Group D. In the semi final they came up against the Swiss trio of Dr.Brawolf’s Red Ale, Soo.Soors Swiss Ale and Celestial Beer’s Le Dermier Ciel, all excellent on the day and although they were favourites to progress the Russians surprised with a Russian Brettness beer and a Hefeweizen which simply blew me away. The Russian’s managed to pull it off and make my Beer final against a heavily fancied Swiss formation. 

Germany (Zombräu,Brauer & Co., and Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose) might be out of the football World Cup, but they are still very much alive in my Beer World Cup, powering to victory in Beer group F, no problems there, while in the last 16 they beat Serbia (Kabinet). In the last eight, Germany then want on to beat England (London Pride), beating them just about, 2-1. In the last four they came up against Croatia (Ožujsko) but the Germans were stronger with Zombräu and Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose doing the business, and although Croatia  performed well in the tussle with their German rivals, they just lost out in the end, just missing the final, 2-1. Germany making another of my Beer World Cup Finals.        

Knightberg Microbrewery

                   Knightberg                       

Zombräu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                        Zombräu                                     Brauer & Co., Funky trout n Pretty sperm whale!

     Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose    

         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many beers were drank, too many perhaps, and a lot of fast food was consumed. A very enjoyable competition resulted in Russia winning ThisDrinkingLife’s Beer World Cup 2018, beating Germany in a closely matched final. 

 

The final was contested by Germany, Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose and Zombräu and Russia, Knightberg.

First match up was Zombräu’s Richtfest a nice and tasty Heller Bock which looked fantastic, hoppy and did the business up against a Knightberg Chocolate Stout, which tasted fantastic, the vanilla aroma and taste very strong and very tasty, and that is why Russia take the lead in this first match up. Stouts can be hot or miss but this one from Russia got it right, the chocolate was very strong on both the nose and in taste, and I got a wide array of flavours, from cherry, caramel to vanilla, just lovely. 

Next up was one of the highlights of the beer competition for me, Germany’s Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose their original, which as to be expected was delicious. Getting the salt and coriander all the time, through the nose and on the taste. I am guessing it is a style that people either like or not, but I love it. 

Against such a strong challenger Russia needed a big hitter, so step forward Knightberg Les Cinq Premiers, a sour red, coming in a big 75cl bottle. I wasn’t expecting a challenge as I really love the gose beers, but I have to say I was surprised with this Premiers real brew. It was very fruity and tasted more like a good red wine than a beer, and like a good red wine over time it was very pleasant. I have to give this match up as a draw, as the Premier was still long in the memory a few days after, the flavours still reverberating around my mind. It was a bloody good beer. 

So that result means that Russia win my Beer World Cup 2-1! And like the great World Cup they held they were also a big success in this years ThisDrinkingLife’s World Cup 2018!

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Belgium V England World Cup 2018

Belgium V England

Beers: Third Place Playoff Beer World Cup: 

Similar in the football,Belgium had a good run in my Beer World Cup, winning Beer World Cup G, with beers from Jessenhofke and Kamil, beating Colombia (Club Colombia) easy in round two, but their good run was ended by some Swiss heavyweights, Celestial Brewery, Soo. Soors Beer, Dr. Brauwolf, in the last 8. England were also strong on the beer front, coming second to Belgium in group, Beer Group G, with London Pride doing the business for them, they then went on to beat Poland (Tyskie) in the last 16, but their good run came to end when they came up against a trio of Strong German beers in the last 8, so England are not here today but Switzerland who were also knocked out, in the last 4, by the beer kings Germany. 

Croatia V Switzerland

Croatia (Ožujsko and Bura Brew), came top in Beer Group D, up against heavy hitters from Iceland, Argentina and Nigeria. Then in the last 16, the Croatians when on to beat Australia (Fosters), while for the last eight they had a tough battle with Portugal (Super Bock), a tussle that went down to the wire, but they got through it in the end. Unfortunately they came up against a strong Germany Zombräu and Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose, and although they performed well in the tussle with their German rivals, they just lost out in the end, just missing the final, 2-1       

Switzerland (Dr. Brauwolf, Celestial Brewery, Soo. Soors Beer) easily powered home in my Beer Group E, no problem at all, and in the last 16 they beat popular Mexican beer, Corona. While in the last eight they had a tough battle with Belgium (Jessenhofke and Kamil) just coming out by the skin of their teeth! In the semi final they came up against Knightberg of Russia, and although they were favourites to progress the Russians surprised with a Russian Brettness beer and a Hefeweizen which simply blew me away. Albeit the Dr.Brawolf’s Red AleSoo.Soors Swiss Ale and Celestial Beer’s Le Dermier Ciel, were all excellent beer and on another day definitely would have made the final, but the Russian’s pulled it off and made the final instead. 

So today we have the third play off place between Croatia (Ožujsko) and Switzerland (Dr. Brauwolf, Celestial Brewery, Soo. Soors Beer) 

Ožujsko, Croatia’s most popular beer

 

 

 

 

     

 

 

                        Ožujsko                                                              Bura Brew

 

 

 

                

Celestial Brewery                    Soo. Soors Beer                 Dr. Brauwolf

             

Read who qualified for my Beer World Cup Final here

Had a massive mash up between a variety of beers from Switzerland and the last few remaining cans of Ožujsko representing Croatia.

For Switzerland we had a lovely light Swiss Ale from Soo. Soors Beer,  which was very smooth, very easy to drink, nice and crisp on the tongue. Representing Celestial Brewery, I had their L’Intemporelle Blance, a lovely Belgian witbier,  and their “L’Autre Monde,  a very good coffee stout. For Dr. Brauwolf, I had a good selection of their brews. Their Black IPA, which was interesting, their own version of a Chocolate Stout, another Witbier, an American IPA and, to finish off, I had a Vanilla Cream Ale, which was just fantastic. 

Poor old Ožujsko didn’t know if it was coming or going, a lager against these heavy hitters from Switzerland! But they did score a few hits and although they didn’t win the tie, they went down fighting! 

Switzerland comes third in my beer world cup! And I had a massive “head” the next day!!!

PreGame:

England V Croatia: Another good game, and it started with a cracker, Trippier banging in a brilliant free kick after about 5 minutes. The skill to get it up and over and down was brilliant. Not a bad way at all to score your first goal for England.

This spurred England on, and it was them as they dictated the play and had a few more chances to increase the lead. Lingard should have scored, or at least hit the target when Alli set him up perfectly, while Kane had two bites of the cherry from close on but couldn’t connect. Those chances would come back to bite them on the ass later!

Croatia came more into it in the second half as England let the foot off the gas, Brozovic hitting the post. That should have woke England up but it didn’t. Sterling still on the pitch, fannying around, while Kane not showing any leadership on the pitch. Perisic, on the other hand, was showing grit by pushing his side forward every chance he had, and all that hard work came off as he scored the equalizer beating the defender to shot for goal, a bit too easy for Croatia. England were now on the ropes. Brozovic missed another chance, an empty goal after a rare blunder by Pickford. Vrsaljko also had Stones clear off the line with a shot. Mandzukic was excellent and had a great shot well saved by Pickford, while Vida at the other end had Sterling ,and Rashford when he came on, had them both in his pocket, well defended considering the speed of those two players.  And then at the centre of it all Modric pinning the ball all around the pitch, brilliant to watch, a world class performance if I ever saw one. 

But England held out, just about, to extra time. Expect they didn’t really, as Croatia, continued into the added time, with more of the same, and it was no surprise at all when Mandzukic scored a perfect strikers goal, as the English defence fell asleep and pretty much put Croatia into the final. You just knew England had no idea how to come back after that. Game over!

England fans are proud of their team, but if I am honest I would be a little pissed if I was English, they really had an excellent chance of making the final and kind of fucked it all up. Those chances dont come round very often, once every 30 years more or less! But fair dues to Croatia, they well deserved to make the final as they are a better footballing team and Modric surely deserves to play in the final after all his years of entertainment that he has given the footballing world. 

France V Belgium: Great start to the game from both teams, Pogba to Mbappe but Courtois quick off his line, A Hazard shot which Varane just headed over. Alderweireld then with a tight angled shot that seen Lloris saving superbly, up the other end Pavard seeing his shot well saved by Courtois. If anything it was the goalkeepers that were the busiest in the opening exchanges. 

At half time I would have said that Belgian were bossing it a bit, especially in the centre with Kevin pinging the ball around, so France on the 51st minute kind of scored against the run of play, when Umtiti headed to the back of the net from a corner, one nil to France. 

This fired up the Belgians, and again Lloris  was called into action to save from Witsel this time.  But for all their huffing and puffing Belgium really couldn’t break the France back line which was well marshaled by Pogba, of all people! France managed to hold out for a memorable victory against a very good Belgium team.

So today’s game might be a slight anti climax, for sure both are happy do as well as they have done in recent memory, but I am guessing they are wondering how they didn’t make that final. Still I would expect a free flowing game today and Belgium to edge it again. 

Bit of dead rubber game in all honesty, but we didn’t have to wait too long before Belgium took the lead, 4 minutes in, when Meunier scored a very nice goal, another top team goal from the Belgians, Lukaku with a lovely pass to Chadli who squared it perfectly for Meunier to fire home. Great start to Belgium.

ThisDrinkingLife and The World Cup: BelgiumIt was all Belgium, Kevin again bossing midfield, Hazard doing his stuff on the wings, Lukaku always a danger up front. 

At the other end, Kane should have really got a goal back for England, snatching at a shot when he should have at least got it on target. 

England played slightly better second half. But still Belgium were a danger, with De Bruyne putting it on a plate for Lukaku who should have really scored. 

The the move of the game came when Belgium from deep in their own defence when up the other end, one touch passing football, for Meunier to slam in a shot that was excellently saved by Pickford. If it had went in it would have got the best goal of the tournament, no doubt. 

E Hazard, with a great one two with De Bruyne, scored the second for Belgium killing the game as a contest and so the Belgians take the third spot.  A good World cup for both teams, but England were lucky that they got such an easy route to the semi’s, they wont get that again for a while, while the Belgians must be wondering how they didn’t make the final since they were easily the best footballing team in this years tournament. Roll on the Euros 2020!

Music to get you in the mood

The Glimmers Present: Disko Drunkards (Belgium) V The Prodigy – No Good (Start The Dance)  (England)

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The World Cup Of Beer 2018.

Beer World Cup 2018 Third Place Playoff

The Beer World Cup Third Place Playoff now gets under way. Click on pictures and links to get a general review and info on the beers we will be a drinking during the Football World Cup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Croatia V Switzerland

Croatia (Ožujsko and Bura Brew), came top in Beer Group D, up against heavy hitters from Iceland, Argentina and Nigeria. Then in the last 16, the Croatians when on to beat Australia (Fosters), while for the last eight they had a tough battle with Portugal (Super Bock), a tussle that went down to the wire, but they got through it in the end. Unfortunately they came up against a strong Germany Zombräu and Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose, and although they performed well in the tussle with their German rivals, they just lost out in the end, just missing the final, 2-1       

Switzerland (Dr. Brauwolf, Celestial Brewery, Soo. Soors Beer) easily powered home in my Beer Group E, no problem at all, and in the last 16 they beat popular Mexican beer, Corona. While in the last eight they had a tough battle with Belgium (Jessenhofke and Kamil) just coming out by the skin of their teeth! In the semi final they came up against Knightberg of Russia, and although they were favourites to progress the Russians surprised with a Russian Brettness beer and a Hefeweizen which simply blew me away. Albeit the Dr.Brawolf’s Red AleSoo.Soors Swiss Ale and Celestial Beer’s Le Dermier Ciel, were all excellent beer and on another day definitely would have made the final, but the Russian’s pulled it off and made the final instead. 

So today we have the third play off place between Croatia (Ožujsko) and Switzerland (Dr. Brauwolf, Celestial Brewery, Soo. Soors Beer) 

Ožujsko, Croatia’s most popular beer

 

 

 

 

     

 

 

                        Ožujsko                                                              Bura Brew

 

 

 

                

Celestial Brewery                    Soo. Soors Beer                 Dr. Brauwolf

Had a massive mash up between a variety of beers from Switzerland and the last few remaining cans of Ožujsko representing Croatia.

For Switzerland we had a lovely light Swiss Ale from Soo. Soors Beer,  which was very smooth, very easy to drink, nice and crisp on the tongue. Representing Celestial Brewery, I had their L’Intemporelle Blance, a lovely Belgian witbier,  and their “L’Autre Monde,  a very good coffee stout. For Dr. Brauwolf, I had a good selection of their brews. Their Black IPA, which was interesting, their own version of a Chocolate Stout, another Witbier, an American IPA and, to finish off, I had a Vanilla Cream Ale, which was just fantastic. 

Poor old Ožujsko didn’t know if it was coming or going, a lager against these heavy hitters from Switzerland! But they did score a few hits and although they didn’t win the tie, they went down fighting! 

Switzerland comes third in my beer world cup! And I had a massive “head” the next day!!!

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Croatia V England World Cup 2018

Croatia V England

Synopsis in red

Beers: Semi Final Beer World Cup: 

Similar in the football, Croatia were also strong on the beer front, coming tops in Beer Group D, with Ožujsko and Bura Brew doing the business for them, they then went on to beat Australia and Fosters in the last 16, and Portugal and SuperBock in the last 8.  England were also strong on the beer front, coming second to Belgium in group, Beer Group G, with London Pride doing the business for them, they then went on to beat Poland in the last 16, but their good run came to end when they came up against a trio of Strong German beers in the last 8, so England are not here today in my Beer Last 4! 

Croatia V Germany

Croatia (Ožujsko and Bura Brew), came top in Beer Group D, up against heavy hitters from Iceland, Argentina and Nigeria. Then in the last 16, the Croatians when on to beat Australia (Fosters), while for the last eight they had a tough battle with Portugal (Super Bock), a tussle that went down to the wire, but they got through it in the end.                

Germany (Zombräu,Brauer & Co., and Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose) might be out of the football World Cup, but they are still very much alive in my Beer World Cup, powering to victory in Beer group F, no problems there, while in the last 16 they beat Serbia (Kabinet). In the last eight, Germany then want on to beat England (London Pride), beating them just about, 2-1

Ožujsko, Croatia’s most popular beer

 

 

 

 

     

 

 

                        Ožujsko                                                              Bura Brew

Zombräu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                        Zombräu                                     Brauer & Co., Funky trout n Pretty sperm whale!

                                   Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose    

         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read who qualified for my Beer World Cup last 4 here

First match up was between one of the Ritterguts Gose (salty beers) called a Bärentöter which was a German Sour Gose Bock against the regular lager, Ožujsko from Croatia. Have to say I love the Gose beers, this one tasting full of flavours of malt, salt, spices and fruits, excellent. The lager was fine but I am a new convert to Gose and this was an easy winner to Germany.

Next up was Zombrau’s Alter Pottbar again against Ožujsko. I admit I find the bourbon flavoured porter very hard to stomach, and so the light tasting but refreshing beer from Croatia got the nod here. 

Last pair up was another Ritterguts but this time the Urgose Märzen again against the Croatian lager Ožujsko. This Ritterguts tasted so refreshing, and a bit like a beery version of a Lucozade, doesn’t look too good but boy is it a great taste. I like Ožujsko, its a lager that does the job and did quite well to get this far into my beer competition, but its 2-1 here to Germany and so the Germans once again make another Thisdrinkinglife Beer World Cup final!

PreGame:

England are amongst the top 4 in the world, apparently! LOL. Well they did beat a pish poor Swedish team, but there you go. And people are shocked with that?

ThisDrinkingLife and The World Cup: EnglandI’d like to know why Southgate keeps picking Sterling? Do team bonding sessions go a little too far?

Game started off slow enough, Alli could have passed a better ball for Kane to score, but that was about it for nearly half an hour. Then Maguire scored! A lovely headed goal, pure determination, to put England in front. 

Sterling had not one but two one v one chances to score and mucked both of them up, he really is a fucking piece of trash. Was very nauseating to hear the arseholes in the Beeb going on about how much he brings to the game, fuck off, say it as you see it, dicks.

Second half, England were pretty much in the driving seat. For sure Sweden had a few chances, Berg, the forward with no goals to his name, had a shot well saved by Pickford, and Berg then saw a good strike brilliantly saved by the England number one, again. Pickford having the game of his life, showing why he is the top goalkeeper in the England team, and bossing it to the back four all day. Great. 

After England scored the second, an easy free header from Alli, they pretty much controlled the whole game after that. Was easy for them in the second half showing it is amazing what a little bit of confidence can do to a team. 

England now go on to the semis, and well done to them, but a few of their star players are covering for a lot of fucking useless passengers on the team…..Sterling, Henderson, Alli, Delph……can it be enough to life a trophy? I dont think so, but lets see, when you have a player as strong in defence as Maguire, who also pops up for the odd goal, you always have a chance. 

To be honest wasn’t expecting a whole lot from the Russia V Croatia game! Well I should have known that to be wrong with the amount of twists and turns we have had in this world cup so far!

A lively start from Russia, with the crowd roaring from the stands, but after a while it slowed down a bit and was beginning to look a tight affair with neither team threatening too much at the start, particularly difficult for Dzyuba out on his own in the Russian front line, albeit he was brilliant as the lone target man.

Then out of nowhere, Cheryshev scored a great goal, a brilliant curler that flew into the net, the goalie no chance. What an unbelievable opener. Could we have another shock on our hands here? 

But that lead only lasted a few minutes, as Croatia got on the score sheet when Kramaric scored a nice header, free as the Russian defence fell asleep, great work from Mandzukic on the wing unchallenged to cross it in. Too easy. 

ThisDrinkingLife and The World Cup: CroatiaGame eventually went for a draw full time, and to be fair to the Russian manager he put on a  few fairly attacking substitutions in the hope of getting the win, while the Croatian manager, Zlatko Dalić, EVENTUALLY, pushed Modric more forward in the hope they might snatch a winner.

Vida, who had a good game in his tussle with the man mountain Dzyuba, eventually got Croatia back to form, with a decent headed goal from a corner and surely that was to be the game settled? 

Not quite, Figueira Fernandes, who has had a great World Cup, got his head on the end of a good well floated ball from a free kick to power home the equaliser and send the game into penalties. Oh what drama, what a great World Cup. Surely Russia couldn’t steal this one, eh?

Penalities, knew Russia would miss the first, just look at the state of the fella Fedor Smolov ffs, he looks like a heroin addict, shud be in rehab, but then Mateo Kovacic missed for Croatia, but golden boy Mario Fernandes also missed his, taking it far too quickly in my opinion, basically leaving it up to Ivan Rakitic to once again score the winning peno in the shootout to put Croatia into the last four of a World Cup.  Have to say the best team won, fair play to Croatia and Modric who can be a joy to watch at times, and will be a tough match for England today. 

Another good game, and it started with a cracker, Trippier banging in a brilliant free kick after about 5 minutes. The skill to get it up and over and down was brilliant. Not a bad way at all to score your first goal for England.

This spurred England on, and it was them as they dictated the play and had a few more chances to increase the lead. Lingard should have scored, or at least hit the target when Alli set him up perfectly, while Kane had two bites of the cherry from close on but couldn’t connect. Those chances would come back to bite them on the ass later!

Croatia came more into it in the second half as England let the foot off the gas, Brozovic hitting the post. That should have woke England up but it didn’t. Sterling still on the pitch, fannying around, while Kane not showing any leadership on the pitch. Perisic, on the other hand, was showing grit by pushing his side forward every chance he had, and all that hard work came off as he scored the equalizer beating the defender to shot for goal, a bit too easy for Croatia. England were now on the ropes. Brozovic missed another chance, an empty goal after a rare blunder by Pickford. Vrsaljko also had Stones clear off the line with a shot. Mandzukic was excellent and had a great shot well saved by Pickford, while Vida at the other end had Sterling ,and Rashford when he came on, had them both in his pocket, well defended considering the speed of those two players.  And then at the centre of it all Modric pinning the ball all around the pitch, brilliant to watch, a world class performance if I ever saw one. 

But England held out, just about, to extra time. Expect they didn’t really, as Croatia, continued into the added time, with more of the same, and it was no surprise at all when Mandzukic scored a perfect strikers goal, as the English defence fell asleep and pretty much put Croatia into the final. You just knew England had no idea how to come back after that. Game over!

England fans are proud of their team, but if I am honest I would be a little pissed if I was English, they really had an excellent chance of making the final and kind of fucked it all up. Those chances dont come round very often, once every 30 years more or less! But fair dues to Croatia, they well deserved to make the final as they are a better footballing team and Modric surely deserves to play in the final after all his years of entertainment that he has given the footballing world. 

 

Music to get you in the mood

Vanna – Safe To Say (Croatia) V The Police – Message In A Bottle (England)

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ThisDrinkingLife and The World Cup: Belgium

France V Belgium World Cup 2018

France V Belgium

Synopsis in red

Beers: Semi Final Beer World Cup: 

France (Kronenbourg 1664) unfortunately didn’t even make it out of my Beer World Cup Group C in a relatively tough group with Denmark (Carlsberg), Peru (Cusqueña) and Australia (Fosters), while Belgium had a good run in my Beer World Cup, winning Beer World Cup G, with beers from Jessenhofke and Kamil, beating Colombia (Club Colombia) easy in round two, but their good run was ended by some Swiss heavyweights, Celestial Brewery, Soo. Soors Beer, Dr. Brauwolf, in the last 8. So we have Switzerland instead of Belgium today. 

Russia V Switzerland

As Uruguay didn’t qualify for my Beer World Cup last 16 (I couldn’t source any beer from Uru), I made Russia winner (Knightberg) of Beer Group A, they went on to beat Spain (Estrella) in the last 16. Then in the last eight they met Nigeria (Guinness Special Export), who came second in my Beer Group D.

Switzerland (Dr. Brauwolf, Celestial Brewery, Soo. Soors Beer) easily powered home in my Beer Group E, no problem at all, and in the last 16 they beat popular Mexican beer, Corona. While in the last eight they had a tough battle with Belgium (Jessenhofke and Kamil) just coming out by the skin of their teeth! 

Knightberg Microbrewery

                   Knightberg       

 

 

 

                

Celestial Brewery                    Soo. Soors Beer                 Dr. Brauwolf

Read who qualified for my Beer World Cup last 4 here

Was an epic battle with a few twists and turns

First off had a Dr.Brawolf Red Ale, and although it was full of carbo, when it settled down it was very good, lovely and so smooth to drink. Enjoyed it. Then I had a Soo.Soors Swiss Ale, another very smooth beer, nice and crisp and again a very enjoyable beer to experience. I had the two Swiss beers in competition against the Knightberg Brettness which came in a huge 7l corked bottle, and took me quite a while to drink. Although the two Swiss beers were good, very good, the Russian Brettness was EXCELLENT, like a good red wine, full of tastes and fruity flavours and even though there was a lot of it to drink I wish I had more of it! One nil to Russia here. 

 

Next battle was between Celestial Beer’s Le Dermier Ciel, a New England IPA, whihc was fine and got the basics right, was hoppy and very good to drink. Against Knightberg’s Hefeweizen, which had a very intriguing aroma and taste. The wheat smell and taste was very strong but very pleasurable, and it felt more like good nourishment than a regular beer, it definitely had the wow factor too, so I also give this one to the Russians. Two nil and straight into my beer world cup final! Wasnt expecting that to be honest as the Swiss trio have had solid beers all month, while the Russians have dipped a little recently after a great start, but today they had two brilliant beers that I will definitely be checking out again. 

PreGame:

Belgium V Brazil: From the start the excitement was built up, the national anthem of Brazil belted out by the players and the crowd, great to see. 

And that passion transferred to the pitch as Brazil started well, with Thiago Silva missing a sitter that hit his knee and went mad wide. Should have scored the opener. 

Fernandinho then scored a bad own goal to give Belgium the lead somewhat against the run of play. A quick corner hit his arm and went in, was very unlucky for Brazil

Brazil came back strong with both Coutinho and Marcelo having shots well saved by Courtois in the Belgian goal.

ThisDrinkingLife and The World Cup: BelgiumBut once again Belgium struck on the counter, with a superb goal by De Bruyne shooting to the corner from just outside the box, what a great goal from a very classy player. This was starting to look worrying for Brazil, 2 down inside half an hour. It was all from a quick break from a Brazilian corner, Lukaku doing most of the running to by pass midfield and give it to Keven to work his magic. 

In the second half it was all Brazil, attack after attack by the team in the famous yellow shirts. But Courtois was on the top of his game, and saved well from Coutinho and his lovely curler.

When Douglas Costa came on it made a huge difference in the game, the man was simply breathtaking, and we must wonder why we only got to see only about 30 minutes of him all world cup! He lifted the tempo even higher, and Brazil started to have some real good chances. Renato Augusto took one of those chances with a lovely headed goal to bring Brazil back into this game. Was a good goal with a great pass from Coutinho. But Augusto should have got the equaliser when he was set up again by Coutinho, but this time not hitting the target, tsk tsk. Coutinho himself was superbly set up by Neymar, and had the whole goals to shoot at but instead blasted it wide. Again a decent chance not taken. And then we had the final chance from Neymar with a lovely curling effort that was heading for the top corner, or so we thought, until Courtois pulled of the save of the tournament to tip it over the bar. Brilliant goalkeeping from a goalie in the best form of his life

By the end Belgium hung on, just about. I have to say I take my hat of to Martinez, their manager, he has them well coached, and every players knows exactly what they have to do on the pitch, a really well drilled operation. Plus it looks like they are enjoying their football too, which always helps.. 

France V Uruguay: Perhaps not the most entertaining of games, but France just did enough to get into the last four of the World Cup. 

It started off very lively with both teams going hell for leather the first 20 minutes or so. It wasn’t a bad opening half as Uruguay with their defensive hard to break down style which is dangerous on the break up against a French team that likes to build slowly from the back, it was a real contrast of footballing styles. 

The deadlock was finally broken in the 40 minute when a beautifully weighted free kick from Griezmann found the head of Varane, who scored with a lovely header to put France one up.

Uruguay responded quickly, and Stuani had a header expertly saved one handed by Lloris, who was full stretch to prevent the goal, brilliant. The follow up was booted over the bar by Godin, who might have used a cooler head to chip it into the empty net!

In the 60th minute Griezmann took a shot to nothing which somehow Muslera let slip through his fingers into the net. An embarrassing goal to let in, considering how well he has played at this years World Cup. That was pretty much the game over, as, without Cavani, Uruguay could not score two goals to get back into this game. 

France did enough to get to the last four but they need to up their performance today against a very well drilled Belgian team if they want to make further progression. I think I might go with Belgium, but only just.

Great start to the game from both teams, Pogba to Mbappe but Courtois quick off his line, A Hazard shot which Varane just headed over. Alderweireld then with a tight angled shot that seen Lloris saving superbly, up the other end Pavard seeing his shot well saved by Courtois. If anything it was the goalkeepers that were the busiest in the opening exchanges. 

At half time I would have said that Belgian were bossing it a bit, especially in the centre with Kevin pinging the ball around, so France on the 51st minute kind of scored against the run of play, when Umtiti headed to the back of the net from a corner, one nil to France. 

This fired up the Belgians, and again Lloris  was called into action to save from Witsel this time.  But for all their huffing and puffing Belgium really couldn’t break the France back line which was well marshaled by Pogba, of all people! France managed to hold out for a memorable victory against a very good Belgium team.

Music to get you in the mood

LAURENT GARNIER – Crispy Bacon (France) The Kids – Bloody Belgium (Belgium)

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Beer World Cup

Beer World Cup 2018 Last Four

The Beer World Cup last 4 now gets under way. Click on pictures and links to get a general review and info on the beers we will be a drinking during the Football World Cup.

 

 

Russia V Switzerland

As Uruguay didn’t qualify for my Beer World Cup last 16 (I couldn’t source any beer from Uru), I made Russia winner (Knightberg) of Beer Group A, they went on to beat Spain (Estrella) in the last 16. Then in the last eight they met Nigeria (Guinness Special Export), who came second in my Beer Group D.

Switzerland (Dr. Brauwolf, Celestial Brewery, Soo. Soors Beer) easily powered home in my Beer Group E, no problem at all, and in the last 16 they beat popular Mexican beer, Corona. While in the last eight they had a tough battle with Belgium (Jessenhofke and Kamil) just coming out by the skin of their teeth! 

Knightberg Microbrewery

      Knightberg       

 

 

 

 

                

Celestial Brewery                    Soo. Soors Beer                 Dr. Brauwolf

               

Was an epic battle with a few twists and turns

First off had a Dr.Brawolf Red Ale, and although it was full of carbo, when it settled down it was very good, lovely and so smooth to drink. Enjoyed it. Then I had a Soo.Soors Swiss Ale, another very smooth beer, nice and crisp and again a very enjoyable beer to experience. I had the two Swiss beers in competition against the Knightberg Brettness which came in a huge 7l corked bottle, and took me quite a while to drink. Although the two Swiss beers were good, very good, the Russian Brettness was EXCELLENT, like a good red wine, full of tastes and fruity flavours and even though there was a lot of it to drink I wish I had more of it! One nil to Russia here. 

 

Next battle was between Celestial Beer’s Le Dermier Ciel, a New England IPA, which was fine and got the basics right, was hoppy and very good to drink. Against Knightberg’s Hefeweizen, which had a very intriguing aroma and taste. The wheat smell and taste was very strong but very pleasurable, and it felt more like good nourishment than a regular beer, it definitely had the wow factor too, so I also give this one to the Russians. Two nil and straight into my beer world cup final! Wasn’t expecting that to be honest as the Swiss trio have had solid beers all month, while the Russians have dipped a little recently after a great start, but today they had two brilliant beers that I will definitely be checking out again. 

Croatia V Germany

Croatia (Ožujsko and Bura Brew), came top in Beer Group D, up against heavy hitters from Iceland, Argentina and Nigeria. Then in the last 16, the Croatians when on to beat Australia (Fosters), while for the last eight they had a tough battle with Portugal (Super Bock), a tussle that went down to the wire, but they got through it in the end.                

Germany (Zombräu,Brauer & Co., and Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose) might be out of the football World Cup, but they are still very much alive in my Beer World Cup, powering to victory in Beer group F, no problems there, while in the last 16 they beat Serbia (Kabinet). In the last eight, Germany then want on to beat England (London Pride), beating them just about, 2-1

Ožujsko, Croatia’s most popular beer

 

 

 

 

     

 

 

                        Ožujsko                                                              Bura Brew

Zombräu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                        Zombräu                                     Brauer & Co., Funky trout n Pretty sperm whale!

                                   Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose                                  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First match up was between one of the Ritterguts Gose (salty beers) called a Bärentöter which was a German Sour Gose Bock against the regular lager, Ožujsko from Croatia. Have to say I love the Gose beers, this one tasting full of flavours of malt, salt, spices and fruits, excellent. The lager was fine but I am a new convert to Gose and this was an easy winner to Germany.

Next up was Zombrau’s Alter Pottbar again against Ožujsko. I admit I find the bourbon flavoured porter very hard to stomach, and so the light tasting but refreshing beer from Croatia got the nod here. 

Last pair up was another Ritterguts but this time the Urgose Märzen again against the Croatian lager Ožujsko. This Ritterguts tasted so refreshing, and a bit like a beery version of a Lucozade, doesn’t look too good but boy is it a great taste. I like Ožujsko, its a lager that does the job and did quite well to get this far into my beer competition, but its 2-1 here to Germany and so the Germans once again make another Thisdrinkinglife Beer World Cup final!

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