Wednesday, July 29th - Futbol Match

Tonight I went to a Champion’s League futbol match between ΑΠΟΕΛ (APOEL) F.C. and Partizan F.K. from Belgrade, Serbia. It was obviously my first European soccer match, but it lived up to any expectations I had coming in, and got me excited about the men’s basketball season coming up for the Gophers!

What struck me most was the signs that each side was holding. Usually, when you think of soccer hooligans, you probably associate them with hatred of their opponents. This case was very different, and its directly associated with the strong political connections the teams in Europe have as well as the religious beliefs of a country and international implications of those politics. APOEL is known as the right wing team of Nicosia because of its connection to the idea of union with Greece, which sparked the 1974 invasion. Therefore there were Greek flags all over the stadium and very few Cypriot flags to be found (interesting side note: Cyprus does not have a national anthem… They use the Greek national anthem). The first sign to come out on the Cypriot side was “Kosovo is Serbia,” which was followed up on the other side (whose fans were limited but were both from Serbia, and from Thessaloniki because they have a good relationship with each other) that said “Cyprus is Greek.” Then, another sign came out on the Cypriot side (in reference to a flag with Christ wearing a crown) that said something like “We welcome all brothers of Orthodoxy”. Finally, there was another sign with the North of Cyprus in red that said something like, “ We will never forget and always support you,” referring to the Turkish occupation that has existed since 1974.

APOEL ended up winning the game 2-0 and play in Belgrade next week to settle the series and hopefully move on. They also play another game later that week against the Cypriot champion, which was a team from Paphos this year. I personally have chosen (even before seeing them play) to support Anorthosis, which is the “refugee” team as they were from Famagusta prior to division and now play in Larnaka because they were displaced from their city after the ’74 incident.