Manning Makes Most of Euro 2008 Experience

Herkimer girls soccer coach Glenn Manning was in Switzerland and Austria for the recently completed UEFA Eureopean Football (soccer) Championship. Manning went to the Switzerland-Portugal match on June 15 in Basel, Switzerland and saw Russia play Sweden June 18 in Innsbruck, Austria.

Manning watched the other matches on big screens set up in public viewing areas with friend, Urs Fischer, a Basel resident.

Manning planned the trip for two years. He couldn't go to the 2006 World Cup in Germany and was determined not to miss the Euro. The experience more than matched Manning's long wait. He visited Switzerland once before, in 1998 when he went to the World Cup in France.

"It's hard to describe one event that is the best," Manning said. "I'd have to say it's the people."

Manning was approached every day by people who heard him speaking English and they asked him why an American would be there. He said he told them it was an experience unmatched in the U.S. Manning said he saw a post-match parade for Holland after the team won a first-round game. After an hour, Manning had to leave but the parade was going strong.

"These were people who didn't have a ticket to the game because the stadiums only hold 40,000," he said.

Manning said it was common practice for fans at the game to exchange items from different teams, such as hats and scarves. After watching the Switzerland-Portugal match, a Portugal fan asked Manning for his Swiss scarf in exchange for the man's Portugese scarf. Manning obliged and received a warm 'thank you.'

"This big Portugese man is giving me a bear hug," Manning said.

Manning's friendship with Fischer is a story in itself. The men met in Baltimore in 1994 on the way home from a World Cup game in California. Manning missed his connecting flight to Syracuse and was stuck in Baltimore with his brother, Gary. Glenn and Gary were eating pizza in a hotel when Fischer and his brother, Stefan, walked in. The Fischers, who were on the same plane as the Mannings, didn't have a place to stay so Glenn and Gary shared their pizza and a bond over soccer was formed. Glenn and Urs kept in touch, and Urs visited the U.S. several times.

"That was back before e-mail so we had to send letters," Manning said.