August 8, 2012: Real Madrid beats AC Milan, 5-1 -- at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, New York. I was there, part of a crowd of 49,474 that was also about 5 to 1 in Real's favor for this exhibition game, or "friendly." I took this photo from my seat behind the north goal in the upper deck -- left field in the Stadium's usual configuration.
Milan had won Italy's national league, Serie A, in 2011, but fell apart after that, into a long period of mediocrity that ended with another Serie A title last season. Real had been battling with FC Barcelona for supremacy in not just Spain's La Liga, but in the UEFA Champions League, for the preceding 20 years. Milan treated the game like a glorified friendly, which it was. Real treated it like a Champions League match in New York.
I took the photo above from my seat behind the north goal in the upper deck -- left field in The Stadium's usual configuration.
Ángel Di María of Argentina opened the scoring for Real in the 24th minute, and Brazilian star Robson de Souza, a.k.a. Robinho, equalized for Milan in the 33rd. The score remained level at halftime.
But Real came out for the 2nd half like a house afire, as Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese superstar who treats goalkeepers, the rules of soccer, women and tax collectors as toys to play with, scored in the 49th, and again in the 66th.
Cristiano, not even the greatest Ronaldo
to play for Real Madrid in the 21st Century.
Chased here by Alessandro Nesta and Daniele Bonera.
(Contrast this with the other contender for the title of greatest player of this generation: When I saw Lionel Messi live, for Argentina at the Meadowlands, a rather ordinary U.S. defense totally shut him down. That 2011 match, in which Ángel Di María also played, ended in a 1-1 draw.)
Sergio Ramos, Real's Spanish Captain and a master of the "horror tackle" that would get him suspended if the rules applied to Real, scored in the 81st. And José Callejón, also from Spain, added the cherry on the sundae in the 89th.
The biggest cheers of the night were for Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, a.k.a. Kaká, who had helped Brazil win the 2002 World Cup, was now with Real, and had previously starred for Milan (and would later return to them). The Real fans treated him like a special player (which he had once been), and the Milan fans treated him as a team legend (which he still was).
Real Madrid have won the Champions League 13 times. AC Milan, 7. The next closest team, Liverpool FC of England, have also won 7. Put them together, and that's 27 titles. That's as many titles as the New York Yankees have all by themselves.
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August 8, 2012 was a Wednesday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:
* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 12-8 at Comerica Park in Detroit. Curtis Granderson hit a home run. He and Robinson Canó each had 3 hits. Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher, Mark Teixeira and Eric Chavez each had 2 hits. All this was in support of CC Sabathia.
* The New York Mets lost to the Miami Marlins, 13-0 at Citi Field. Three Marlin pitched tossed a 5-hit shutout, and Met starter Chris Young got knocked out of the box in the 5th inning. Giancarlo Stanton went 4-for-5 with 2 homers and 4 RBIs for the Marlins. And this wasn't the worst baseball beating of the night.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox, 10-9 at Fenway Park in Boston.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 12-6 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Seattle Mariners, 9-2 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.
* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-6 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-2 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 2-1 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 15-0 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Marco Scutaro went 3-for-6 with 7 RBIs, including a grand slam. Ryan Vogelsong pitched 7 3-hit shutout innings, with 2 relievers completing the 4-hit shutout.
* The Washington Nationals beat the Houston Astros, 4-3 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.
* The San Diego Padres beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-0 at Petco Park in San Diego. Clayton Richard pitched a 5-hit shutout.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies, 6-4 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels, 9-8 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the O.co Coliseum).
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