I had been playing soccer since I was five when, one day, my older brother brought me to watch an Olympic Quarterfinal match in Palo Alto, CA – 1984. I then realized that ‘big kids’ played the game too. Things have never been the same since.

btw – The ticket for 3rd row was $11.

LDU-Quito hosting Robinho, Alex and Diego led Santos

Before the match Santos’ keeper strays too close to the Muerte Blanca (White Death) section of the LDU supporters and gets absolutley covered in fire extinguisher foam. Like Casper. The guy looked like a man shaped vanilla ice cream bar. Classic.

And oh yeah, Franklin Salas was off the hook and LDU stole it, then beat them in Brasil to advance. A Nice.

Flamengo 2 x 2 Gremio – Final of Copa do Brasil 97. 95 thousand flamengo fans quiet as they watched Gremio take the title.

Sao Paulo 1 (4) x (3)1 Estudiantes (ARG) – Quarter-final of Copa Libertadores 06. Rogerio Ceni saving the day.

Sao Paulo 1 x 2 Inter – final of Copa Libertadores 06. My saddest day in a stadium.

Portland Timbers @ Vancouver Whitecaps (2005): Timbers never play well in Vancouver, but they were holding their own in this one. Edwin Miranda struck an extra time uber blast to equalize the game and the few dozen of us Timbers Army who had made the inter-national trip streamed out of the bleachers, dancing with glee…while Vancouver took the restart and immediately scored the winner. Heart. Break. Even with the outcome this was one of the best times I’ve ever had at a sporting event (including having anti-American slurs hurled at me by 9-year olds).

USA vs Italy (WC 2006): This was the first international match I have attended, and it was brilliant. From the street party in Kaiserslautern before the match, to the truly intimidating Azzuri supporters section (which unfortunately was right next to where we were sitting), to the great Frankenstadion, McBride’s bloody face, etc. It was a blast, very intense.

D&R were well above Woking in the Conference (they were playing promotion, Woking was playing relegation), and after half an hour, they were 2-0 up.

Woking pulled one up just after the break, but then by the 70th minute, D&R had scored two more. 4-1, gloom.

And then, in 15 minutes, Woking produced some fantastic football (all things relative, mind you), outplaying D&R, and scoring 3 goals, the last in extra time. 4-4.

It was only a conference draw, but it was the first time I went to the stadium, and it branded me with love of football of all kinds.

(P.S. A very, very close second would be Man U’s 99 treble-clinching CL final against Munich, but that’s not really an “experience”, since I was just on the other side of my telly, crying one minute, and then jumping around in joy as the tears dried on my face.)