Red Army plans big opening statement

Saturday promises to be a banner day for the Kickers’ Red Army fan club. The group is planning to unfurl a massive banner (known in soccer parlance as a “tifo”) before the start of Saturday’s match.

Tifos are common at Premier League, Bundesliga and some MLS matches but have never been attempted at City Stadium. Sowers said this one, hand-painted by Red Army members, is ambitious: 40 feet high by 200 feet wide.

“It’s going to be by far the biggest (banner)” in Kickers history, she said.

“Tifo” is an Italian term with less-than-pleasant origins. Its literal definition is “typhus” (or fever). It now is applied to choreographed displays of devotion by sports fans in general and soccer fans in particular.

Rude awakening? To say the least

Some individuals find it difficult to sleep on an airplane. Kickers forward Oliver Minatel might now be one of them.