Football at Breakneck Speed

Last night, we had some new friends in town from Paris.  We had a great dinner consisting of French pizza.  I never would have thought that pizza would be so big in France but I guess we are right next to Italy.  After dinner, it was time for the Olympique de Marseille football match.  They were playing just a half-mile away but unfortunately it was sold-out.  This was the last game of the season and Marseille had to win in order to take third place and a chance to play in the Champions League next season.  French TV decided to show all the games at the same time.  It was new to me and was awesome.  There were ten "soccer" games going on at the same time.  They would show part of one game and then whenever a team scored there would be a little buzzer and would switch to that game to show the goal and what was happening.  This wasn't really what football was about but the people that normally don't like it were watching so I couldn't complain.  

Marseille did end up winning in dramatic fashion 4-3.  So, this means that they will be in the Champions League Qualifying Rounds and will hopefully play in the Champions League.  Last season they were in the group stage and upset Liverpool 1-0 in England.  I am hoping they can do even better next season and get to the knockout rounds.

After the game, they had a huge fireworks show at the stadium that we were able to watch from the apartment.  It was a great night!

Now that the European leagues are mainly over, we turn our eyes to the UEFA Champions League Final in Moscow on Wednesday night, June 21st at 8:45 PM my time.  My team, Manchester United, is playing Chelsea whom they beat in the league and are going for the Double and our first Champions League trophy since 1999 and the Miracle.  

AFTER this game, the EUROs will run from June 7-29 in Austria and Switzerland.  Here are the teams competing:

Group A: Czech Republic, Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey.

Group B: Austria, Croatia, Germany, Poland

Group C: France, Italy, Netherlands, Romania

Group D: Greece, Russia, Spain, Sweden