Champions League "Football"

So tomorrow is June 1. We are weeks away from training camp. The draft is so far in the rear view mirror that even the disclaimer about "objects being closer than they appear" is laughing at us. It's way early for baseball to be of interest. The NBA is something of a joke these days (my opinion, mileage may vary).

What is a team sports lover to do?

Let me help you out. Tomorrow afternoon there will be a match on TV that will get more attention worldwide than the Olympics or the Super Bowl. Tomorrow is the Final of the UEFA Champions League and it will crown the top club in European Football (which really means the top club in the world). Over 80 clubs started this journey, some of them playing their first matches of the competition nearly a year ago and now there are two left.

Tottenham Hotspur FC v Liverpool FC

I know some of you are reading this and thinking to yourselves that soccer is boring. That real football players put them to shame. That the NFL is a real sport and you don't like those guys who fake injuries on a soccer pitch. And who calls the field a "pitch" anyway?!?

Tomorrow you have the chance to see some of the most exciting team action on the planet. These two teams play to win. They are aggressive, always out on the "front foot", as the British say, and looking to score. This will not be a defensive struggle. You will get a chance to see two English teams who know each other well going for the title. Liverpool, who lost last year's Champion's League final, and Tottenham, who will be making their very first appearance in this prestigious match, know each other well as they play at least twice a year in the English top flight. Think about a Super Bowl where the Skins played another team from the NFC East. Sound just a bit exiting if put that way?

Ah but I don't understand the game, you say.

Tell you what...if there is enough interest here I'll fire up the BGO chat for the match so you can ask questions. Maybe learn the game a bit.

I'm not trying to replace your love the Skins with something else, just give you some new options during the long off-season and maybe pull the smartest group of sports fans I know into appreciating a sport that is huge everywhere but here.

The match will be televised live at 3pm Eastern tomorrow on TNT. I have not checked but there will likely be an hour of pre-game programming.

We have a few soccer fans here other than myself (Om and El come to mind). Maybe a few others willing to give it a try?

I'm a big soccer guy (at least for an American sports guy). I played throughout my youth and was a fullback/midfielder in the 'Select' soccer leagues for years. I lost interest in high school because we had a terrible team, and even though I was one of the best defenders as a freshman, the coach would only play seniors. We had Washington Diplomats season tickets so I spent a lot of time there watching Johan Cruyff and the rest of the guys in NASL games, including some truly epic ones against the New York Cosmos and even an exhibition match against the Brazilian Santos with a near retirement Pele on the field.

And I am a World Cup addict. Wish it came around more often.

I've seen American soccer grow and progress beyond anything folks would've believed back in my youth. In terms of flow of the game being 'boring' as some describe it - I don't get that, unless you feel hockey is also 'boring'. For me they have similar tempo.

I've never been one to 'adopt' a European or other team, any more than I would root for an NFL team to which I personally had no ties. But I do enjoy watching a great soccer match. Don't know if I'll be around at 3pm today, but if so I'll be watching. Thanks for the heads up Neo

So the lesson is, never predict a freewheeling, high scoring affair when it comes to a soccer match I thought the hand ball call in the first minute was unfortunate - it may have *technically* been a foul, but for me, Sissoko did not attempt to block the ball or use his arm to an advantage, the ball was simply driven into his shoulder by the Liverpool player. That's a pretty big call to make just 1 minute into the game. And it put Tottenham into a position where allowing another goal would really put them in a bad spot. It did.

Soccer, more even than the NFL, is about matchups and the two teams in this case were pretty even in terms of talent, regardless of the score.

Boone said:

So the lesson is, never predict a freewheeling, high scoring affair when it comes to a soccer match I thought the hand ball call in the first minute was unfortunate - it may have *technically* been a foul, but for me, Sissoko did not attempt to block the ball or use his arm to an advantage, the ball was simply driven into his shoulder by the Liverpool player. That's a pretty big call to make just 1 minute into the game. And it put Tottenham into a position where allowing another goal would really put them in a bad spot. It did.

Soccer, more even than the NFL, is about matchups and the two teams in this case were pretty even in terms of talent, regardless of the score.

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I was an official for 3 years in Palm Beach County and would not have thought twice about making that call. It was clearly a handball. It's the same old argument that you don't want the officials changing the outcome of the game, but Tottenham had 89 minutes to remedy the situation.

Here's a funny video of the reactions on social media.

I don't know how the rule is written. It may leave no room for 'interpretation'. I do think 'intent' should be a factor considered though. There's a big difference between a player using his arm or hand to stop a ball or control it. Getting penalized because another player blasted a ball into your arm at short range is a dumb rule, especially when enforced in the penalty box.

The 'they had 89 minutes to remedy the situation' argument is irrelevant.

There won't be any room for interpretation next year but this year there was lots of room. At least for the head official. However, once he called it a handball and a penalty, there wasn't much room for the VAR official to correct anything. Like replay in the NFL, they need "clear and obvious" evidence and I don't think it was there.

I can see why the ref called it the way he did but it isn't consistent with the current rules as far as I am concerned. The ball clearly hit Sissoko's chest and then hit his arm. Earlier, in a Quarter Final match of this same competition, a ball hit Llorente in the abdomen, bounced into his arm and from there into the goal. The ruling was that it could not be a hand ball if it hit a legal body part first and the majority of retired officials asked about it agreed it was the right call with the current rules. If that was the right call then, this was the wrong call here.

However, it was close and I don't really fault the ref. Spurs had their chances. Liverpool were there for the taking except for some great play by Van Diyk and Allison.