Old Firm Derby: Now that's what you call football

There are a lot of rivalries in sports, especially in football. Those London derbys in England, Manchester united and Liverpool FC, in Germany there's the "Ruhrpott" derby between Schalke and Dortmund, the Munich derby, the Rhineland derbies involving Düsseldorf, Mönchengladbach and Cologne. In France you have Marseille and Paris and of course there in Madrid versus Barcelona in Spain. In Southamerica you have the Fla-Flu in Brazil or River vs Boca Juniors. But nothing, absolutely nothing beats the intensity of Rangers vs Celtic in Scotland. There are numerous legends and stories revolving around those matches between the two archrivals in Scottish football. What makes it even more fierce is the politcal and religious stance between the two clubs and their supporters. When you watch the Old Firm on TV you have the impression you are right in there with the crowd, something which rarely happens to me when I watch a football match. The noise and excitement of the audience is there. Always.
So when the two big teams met again tonight at Celtic Park it was no disappointment again. After Celtic went up 1-0 in the first half after a beautiful strike by Japanese midfielder Nakamura Shunsuke Rangers equalized in the 2nd on a goal by Nacho Novo. The game went from side to side, from one penalty box to the other. Some time in the 2nd half Rangers goalkeeper McGregor injured himself and was limping over the pitch for quite some time. He had enough energy to save a penalty though which came after a Rangers player cleared another Nakamura screamer with his hand on the goal line. But it finished in style with Jan venegor of Hesselink scoring the winning goal in stoppage time. And if it needed any more there was some pushing and shoving after the final whistle when emotions and frustration broke loose on both sides.
What's most astonishing in a positive way is the way that the foreign players adapt to the British way of playing. While you can see players falling down at the slightest touch in the German Bundesliga - one of the most annoying things in football, if you ask me - in Scotland the get hammered and still stand up, brushing of the tackle as something which belongs to the game. The referee also plays a vital role in letting the match continue. This is brilliant stuff and I would really like to see something like that going on in Germany as well. Unfortunately stuff like that won't happen here as long as the German FA (DFB) advises its referees to blow the whistle so often.