February 2020 - Stadion Blagoj Istatov in Strumica, Macedonia

I first visited Strumica, Macedonia in November in 2009 when I travelled from the Czech Republic to watch Canada play Macedonia in a friendly.  Unfortunately, Canada lost that match 3-0, which saw 4 penalty kicks called, and a dodgy ref from Bulgaria.  In 2010, I married a woman from Strumica, and as a result I have visited the city numerous times over the last 11 years.  

The last time I watched football at the stadium was in 2017 when I watch a few Europa League and Champions League qualifiers.  At the time, the stadium in Strumica was the only stadium able to host European qualifiers.  The main stadium in Skopje was under construction.  Needless the say, the stadium was in poor condition.  No real facilities, dirty, and broken seats.  Since then, it has gone under extensive renovation, and looks a little better as of February 2020.

Currently, Belasica Strumica are the main tenants of the stadium.

Friendly - January 11, 2020 - Šumperk 0 Sigma Olomouc 6

Friendly - January 11, 2020
Šumperk (4th division) 0 Sigma Olomouc (1st division) 6
Attendance - 650

I spent a freezing cold late afternoon in northern Moravia a few weeks back.  I have to be honest, I left with about 20 minutes to go, so that I could catch an earlier train.  The one thing that surprised me about this match was the attendance.  I am used to crowds of around 50-150 for most winter training matches, but for some reason this was different. 

December 28, 2019 - Slovakia 24 Czech Republic 21

Handball friendly - December 28, 2019 - Považská Bystrica

Slovakia 24 Czech Republic 21

Attendance - 1,200

A few days before the end of 2019 I decided to make the short trip across the border to watch the Czech Republic play Slovakia, which was for the visitors was a warm-up for the 2020 European Championships.

Považská Bystrica is a city of 39,600 located on the river Vah.  The city itself, is most certainly not a tourist destination, but the surrounding area must be popular for hiking during the warmer months.  Our hotel was located next to the football stadium.  The outside of the hotel dates back to the 1980's but the rooms were all nicely renovated.

As for the match, the Czechs were missing a few regular starters, and it showed.  They played poorly throughout much of the match, and never looked like winning.  It seemed like they were always playing catch-up.  There were almost no Czech supporters at the match, which for me was surprising.  I counted only around 15 scattered around the stadium. 

December 30, 2019 - 2020 World Junior Hockey Championships - Canada 4 Germany 1

December 30, 2019 - World Junior Hockey Championships (in Ostrava, Czech Republic)
Canada 4 Germany 1
Attendance - 6,102

As a Canadian boy growing up in Canada during the late 1980's and early 1990's, the World Junior Hockey Championships were a very important part of the holiday season.  I remember watching the punch up in Piestany, John Slaney scoring the winning goal against the Soviet Union during the 1991 WJHC.  For the last 25 years, I have not paid much attention to the tournament. 

Over this past holiday season, the WJHC was played in the Czech Republic, and it was a perfect time to see my first ever match in person.  What made it even more special, was that I was able to take my 8-year old son to see first Canada match.  There were thousands of Canadian fans at the match.  Many of them made the long flight from Canada to the Czech Republic.  It looked like around 4,000 were at the match.  It has long been a running joke, that Canadians really only care about this tournament, and that still seems to be the case.  In Canada, it is an over-hyped, and over-priced event. The Canadian fans were typical in their support, all wearing the same jersey and chanting 'let's go Canada' in a very robotic fashion.  There were maybe 40 German supporters scattered around the arena.

Futsal - Okres Prostejov - December 22, 2019

Okres Prostějov - futsal - 5th tier in the Czech Republic
December 22, 2019

With the lack of sporting events around the Christmas period, I made the short trip to Kostelec na Hané by bike to watch some 5th tier futsal.