#15431 Living Dangerously at a Football Match in Belgrade, Serbia

Aficionados of noise, chaos, testosterone, and spectacular mayhem will not find better than a good Balkan football game. Serbia’s two main teams, Red Star and Partizan, have a longstanding merciless rivalry, and their legion of fans never miss a good opportunity to mix it up, often with spectacular and destructive results. Sit off on the side areas of the stadium to stay out of the chaos and watch the opposite-facing sections bellow war chants at each other, smell the acrid smoke of burning flares everywhere, dodge the flying plastic chairs being hurled every which way, and watch the armor-clad Serbian riot police try to lay down the law with tear gas and good ol’ musclepower. Oh yeah, and there is also some football going on somewhere in the mess, if that’s what you actually came for.