August 8th, 2012
It was a warm summer evening in the Bronx. The interior walls of the stadium were adorned with magnificent images of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe Di Maggio, Mickey Mantle and other baseball greats. The food concessions and memorabilia shops were packed with fans clamoring to purchase Yankee t-shirts, jerseys and whatever they could get their hands on. Admittedly I am not a baseball fan however I could not help but feel the spirit of the greats that brought sell out crowds to the old Yankee stadium and 
now this new marvel of a stadium located on 161st Street in the Bronx. While there was much electricity in the air this evening it was not for Americas favorite past time.
The historic stadium would play host this evening to two of the greatest soccer powers in Europe; teams that between the two of them (Real Madrid and A.C. Milan) won a total of 17 European Cup Championships. Real Madrid had won the cup 9 times 1956, ’57,’58, ‘60, ‘66, ’98, 2000, and 2002 while A.C. Milan won during years 1963, ’69, ’89, ‘90, ’94, 2003, and 2007.
The game began with a coin toss by Yankee pitcher Mariano Rivera.
Ball possession belonged to Real Madrid for most of the first quarter with Real’s Angel di Maria of Argentina who will be playing with Real Madrid until 2018 scoring the first goal in the 24th minute. Capitalizing on assists from Antonio Nocerino and Antonio Cassano, Robinho of A.C. Milan equalized with a wonderful strike in the 33rd minute.
At half time it appeared that it would be an evening of back and forth goals but that was not to be the case. It was if after the first half Real Madrid decided to turn it the notch full throttle with Cristiano Ronaldo displaying his incredible dribbling skills at times toying with A.C. Milan defenders before eventually scoringl in the 49th and 66th minutes and doing so in spectacular fashion.
The match resembled a pro team playing a high school team. However it was clear from the A.C. Milan roster that with the exception of Robinho coach Massimiliano Allegri had not brought his top players. Sergio Ramos would score in the 81st minute sending the Real Madrid fans in a frenzy with Jose Maria Cajejjon finishing the game with a goal in the 89th minute, crushing A.C. Milan 5-1. A.C. Milan Coach Jose Mourinho saw the game as a good training session for his team who would begin their league season in the next few weeks.
All in all the sellout crowd of 49,474 which were mostly Real Madrid fans enjoyed the game and got first hand look at their hero Cristiano Ronaldo who did not disappoint.
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho team would later state that the presence and play of both team at Yankee Stadium was befitting of the past glory of one the world’s greatest sports venues.
