Back in December, without any expectations and just for fun, I entered the lottery for FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 tickets. There is less than a 10% chance to get tickets to a game for anyone entering the lottery. I requested tickets for all three of Greece’s group stage games with a friend. Again, the chances of even getting tickets to ONE game was slim to none.
In Istanbul, Martin and Gönül invited me to join them at the 2014 World Cup Qualifier between Turkey and Romania. It was a little difficult to find each other in the sea of everyone wearing red, but I met them outside of Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in Kadıköy an hour before the game.
The day I arrived in Madrid, I went directly to Estadio Santiago Bernabéu for a tour of the iconic stadium. Before the tour, I noticed there was a fan zone set up to watch Spain’s 2010 World Cup semifinal game against Germany, which would take place later that evening.