Parma Star Gives Stadium Thumbs Up

Parma star Sebastien Frey reckons the super-stadia of Serie A are not a patch on the pride of Wales – the Millennium Stadium.
The highly-rated French shot-stopper flew into Cardiff yesterday with the rest of the Italian football aristocrats for the glamour tie against European giants Barcelona in Cardiff tomorrow.
And he wasted no time in giving the city’s showpiece arena the thumbs up as one of the best stadiums in the world.
Frey, who has been linked to a move to Arsenal, has spent the last six years in Italy playing at some of the most famous football stadiums in the world such as Rome’s Olympic Stadium and Milan’s San Siro where he had two seasons with Internazionale.
But he, along with the rest of a young Parma team, cannot wait to sample the Millennium Stadium.
‘It is a stupendous stadium, probably one of the best in the world,’ he raved.
‘I have played in many stadiums and countries around the world but from what I have seen it is very impressive.
‘I have only been to Wales once before (for an under-15 international) but that was before the stadium was built so I have only seen pictures of it on TV but it looks one of the biggest and attractive stadiums I have seen.’
Stadium officials are hoping for a late surge of interest in the pre-season friendly now that the Italians are in town with Barcelona, featuring world stars Ronaldinho and new signing Henrik Larson, due to arrive tomorrow morning.
Frey added: ‘It doesn’t matter if the stadium is not full, ten or twenty thousand fans is plenty if they make a lot of noise.
‘I hope they do come because I think it will be a very entertaining match. Barcelona are a huge club with a long tradition and famous players. They will be a very difficult team to play against but we feel that we are playing well at the moment.’
The Italians will certainly be hoping for a more relaxing day today after their flight from Valencia, where they played a friendly on Wednesday night, was forced to circle Cardiff Wales Airport due to bad weather.