Football game - World-class Pirlo joins Jena as they face off against Sampdoria.
In the premiere match for its newly renovated stadium, FC Carl Zeiss Jena will square off against Italian Serie B team Sampdoria Genoa. This highly anticipated clash is set to take place on the 30th of July. Sampdoria is led by legendary former football star and European superstar, Andrea Pirlo, who won the World Cup in Germany back in 2006 by beating France. Jena and Sampdoria have a long and storied history, having faced each other in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup way back in 1988.
"I was there, as an 18-year-old in the stadium when Sampdoria played in Jena," recalls coach Henning Bürgler, reminiscing about the time when Sampdoria was considered a top European team. "It was like meeting real celebrities, both on and off the field."
In their last European Cup match, Jena and Sampdoria had tied 1:1 in the first leg on October 26th, 1988. The equalizer was scored by Gianluca Vialli, a player who has since passed away. The return leg on November 9th, however, was won by Sampdoria with a score of 3:1.
