November 14th - FIFA Friendly - Macedonia 3 Canada 0

November 14, 2009 - Strumica

FIFA Friendly

Macedonia 3 Canada 0

Attendance: 5,000 (soldout)

Admission: 300mkd

Distance travelled: 3,500km

This game was originally scheduled to be played at the national stadium in Skopje, but the Macedonian FA decided to switch it over to the town of Strumica (50,000). National team games are rarely played outside of Skopje, so this was a big deal for the people of Strumica. It is located in southern Macedonian, about 30km north of Greece and 20km to the west of Bulgaria.

As a Canadian living in the Czech Republic, I made the trip to Macedonia. It was a early morning on Friday, as I had to leave at 5am to get to the Prague airport. From there, I flew to Skopje, and then took a dodgy taxi to the city centre. For anyone who has flown into the Skopje airport, you will know that the taxi cabs are unregulated. So, one must haggle. The first offer was 30 euros, which was ridiculous. I finally found someone for around 18 euros. Once I got to the Skopje bus station, I waited around for the bus to Strumica, which is about 3 hours away (175km).

There were only 2 Canadian supporters at the game, including me. Watching Canada away from home, is certainly not like watching England, Scotland etc where thousands show up. Many of the Macedonians seemed to be surprised that any Canadian supporters were at the game. We had a lot of requests for pictures.

The stadium is about a 10 minute walk north of the city centre. From the outside it looks quite run down, but the stands have recently been renovated. The pitch was in awful shape, thanks to constant rain over the week.

Canada was dominated for most of the first half, even though it ended 0-0. The play was slightly more even in the second half, despite Macedonia scoring three goals. Incredibly, the game had four penalty kicks. Macedonia scored on their two, but Canada missed both of theirs. The visitors couldn't match the size and physical play of the hosts.

October 25, 2009 - Olomoucký Kraj Přebor - HFK Olomouc "B" 4 Kralice na Hané 1

October 25, 2009

Olomoucký Kraj Přebor - 5th division

HFK Olomouc "B" 4 Kralice na Hané 1

Admisson: 20kc

Attendance: 60

Game rating: 6.5/10

Distance travelled: 45km

HFK Olomouc "B" play their games in Hodolany, which is just behind the main train station in Olomouc. The ground is perhaps a 10 minute walk away. The main ground of HFK Olomouc is a few kilometers away in Holice. I had been meaning to get to Hodolany for a few years, but I kept being put off by the 10:15 Sunday morning kickoff.

It is worth noting a little history about the ground in Hodolany. FK Hodolany was established in 1912, which made it one of the oldest clubs in Moravia. In the 2004/05 season, they played in the Olomoucký Kraj Přebor, but after theyseason finished the club dissolved into HFK Olomouc. Thus, the reason why HFK "B" now play in Hodolany, because they own the ground. In a way, it is too bad, that a club with such a long history as FK Hodolany, ended in a merger.

There is one main stand at the ground, and I could definitely tell that it was quite old. It perhaps has a capacity of 300-400 people, and it is in need of some repair. However, there are not too many stands still around which have the same type of look.

The game was completely one sided, with the hosts dominating the majority of the play. It was not until the last 10 to 15 minutes that Kralice started to get some run of play.

October 24, 2009 - Olomoucký Kraj - 1. B Třída Skupina A - Haná Nezamyslice 2 Haná Prostějov 1a

October 24, 2009

Olomoucký Kraj - 1. B Třída Skupina A - 7th division

Haná Nezamyslice 2 Haná Prostějov 1

Attendance: 70

Admission: 15kc

Game rating: 6/10

Beer: 20kc

Distance travelled: 40km

Nezamyslice is a small village of a few thousand located 20km south of Prostějov. So, the game last weekend was something of a local derby.

I had been to Nezamyslice a few years back for a game, but I cannot seem to remember who I saw, or what the score was. The ground is located a short 15 minute walk from the train station. It has a stand with around 100 seats, but most people choose to lean against the railings surrounding the pitch.

The hosts, going into the game were sitting near the bottom of the table, but they had been competitive in most of their games. Despite this, I was hoping that Prostějov would come away from the game with a hard fought three points. A few things prevented this from happening. One was that Prostejov really struggled in front of the net, and the other was offside trap which was used quite effectively by Nezamyslice. In the end, this was one of those games, where you leave and wonder how did Prostějov manage to lose?