Friday, June 10, 2005

While I was gone

Due to a lot of travelling lately, I have not had the opportunity to update this site. However, I have closely followed some of the exciting things that have happened in the last four weeks.

Firstly, I must join the choir of praise for the Champions League final between Liverpool and AC Milan. What a match! I guess I am not the only one that could never have imagined that AC Milan would throw away a 3-0 lead in a final. At the same time, Liverpool showed the same spirit and perseverance with which they defeated Olympiakos earlier in the season. Liverpool showed again, that football is about showing team spirit, fighting, and not about what players are on your team. They are true Champions.
An anecdote: I watched the game in a hotel room in the town of Wa, in the Upper West region of Ghana. After being thrilled for two hours, as the penalty kicks were about to begin, lights went out... I almost destroyed the room! I only got to know the result through the phone...

In the UEFA Cup there was also a surprising winner, as CSKA Moscow were the first Russian team to win a European title. This happened with their surprising 3-1 victory in Lisbon, against Sporting Lisbon.

Many of the leagues in Europe have ended. In Spain, the enthralling Barcelona team finally won the championship, their first since 1999. Real Madrid's stars went into the second season in a row without a single title. Personally, I was sad that Valencia did terrible, not even qualifying for the UEFA cup. A terrible season, which showed how wrongly it was to let Champion coach Rafa Benitez leave for Liverpool, and change him for the negative Mr. Ranieri.

Bayern Munich and Juventus have won the leagues in Germany and Italy respectively, while Olympique Lyon continues to awe in the French league. This fall, they will all be strong contenders for the Champions League title.

In England Chelsea won the league for the first time since 1955. The investments of number one football-fanatic Mr. Abramovich have finally started to pay off. At the same time, Arsenal and Manchester United were left to fight for the leftovers in the FA Cup final. I found it a very disappointing match, with only Manchester really trying to play football, while Arsenal undeservedly winning after penalty kicks. The most annoying about this, was that I was surrounded by annoying Arsenal fans as I watched it.

There is now coming a period of almost 2 months with very little football. Hard times...

1 comment:

El Erik said...

And I should not forget that Brøndby, the best etam in Denmark, defeated FC Copenhagen, the defending Danish Champions 5-0, in Copenhagen! A wonderful victory, and a prelude for the championship title!