Sognare Ad Occhi Aperti: ROMA takes on UDINESE

Experiencing a soccer game in Europe is not quite like that of anywhere else! Choosing to go to an awesome match up between Roma #6 and Udinese #4 (or 5), we loaded up on Roma gear and headed to the stadium amidst tons of other decked out fans. The entire area surrounding the stadium was just pulsing with the energy of the fans! I go to Penn State, home of the best fan section, and I was absolutely blown away by the Curva Sud (aka the 'South Curve' section filled with crazy fans). I can’t even express how amazed I was with the entire experience. I’m quite positive that I didn’t stop smiling from the second we passed through the first of three security gates, (well technically 5 after all our attempts at finding the right gate…) into the stadium. Its funny because despite all the security, there were flags larger than I am tall, and tons of fireworks/smoke bombs that made it into the stadium with the crowd. Those huge flags never once stopped waving from the second they went up and added much to the atmosphere. Fans also repeatedly lit smoke bombs and threw fireworks onto the field- apparently this is a common occurrence because there were firefighters decked out in their gear who were constantly chasing and snuffing the fires out. The cheers from the crowd were constant throughout the game, but they literally went wild each time Roma scored! One thing Kelly had pointed out when we were there was that we were the only ones yelling “woooo” like Americans always do at sporting events… apparently the Italian just cheer, yell, and sing songs at the games. It definitely was entertaining to try and fit in, but it was pretty impossible considering everyone else around us knew Italian cheers and songs. Winning 3-1 the Roma fans went crazy at the last goal in the last few moments of the game. It was absolutely a night that I will remember for a long time!