Thanks for the summary Micol Indeed, there's no seating system at women french games, nevermind organisation You just go, watch, and that's it. The great and polite service is good news (though almost shocking and a pure contrast with what it's like in Lyon: friendly and polite serivce outside of the stadium, not inside About the huge level difference, it's a real problem for OL. On the other hand: - Lyon coach certainly pushed them to go get a clear win that will send a strong message to Montpellier, PSG and Juvisy that his team is ready. - Vendenheim are known for being a very weak side. So be sure that OL won't destroy their opponent 10-0 every Sunday. Oh btw, you mentionned them apologizing for the dirty seats. Did you complain about it?
I wasn't really expecting one, from my experience in Germany, but then why put seat numbers on the tickets? I should perhaps mention, though, that the match wasn't at Vendenheim's own "stadium". They don't even have proper seats there, never mind numbers. They had moved to Strasbourg for the occasion and combined the Lyon match with a girls' football day, so there was quite a lot going on. Good idea. Nope, I wiped, just like everyone else. And they were clever about it too: the stadium speaker thanked some people who had been cleaning seats during the week but unfortunately hadn't quite finished. How can you complain then?
(look at your PMs box) La Meinau is a big stadium and Strasbourg main team used to be a big club in the past, so they probably just used the very same ticketing system for that match. That should explain why you got a seat number on you ticket. It's the same in Gerland for WCL matches. The rule is quite simple: as long as the stadium is not packed, you can seat wherever you want. Ha! Very smart announcement from the Alsacian speaker
Highlights of Japan-South Korea at the Asian Olympics qualifiers. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdZIShx-Ihc"]??? - YouTube[/ame] Perhaps not too surprisingly, the nice South Korean goal was scored by Ji So-Yun.
Olympique Lyonnais got their "super striker". Laëtitia Tonazzi, welcome on board. *yawn* Inka, OL fans don't thank you for picking Zürich instead of OL. http://www.footofeminin.fr/notes/D1-Tonazzi-annonce-son-depart-de-Juvisy-pour-Lyon_b3245091.html
Very smart the way they noticed this one woman scrutinizing her seat instead of sitting in it..... (yes i am a bad boy today) Did they really get 9,000 ? Astonishing ! That would be almost as much as the WPS final, or the best game of the Bundesliga.
Me? No, everyone wiped. Well, especially the women. And most of them used the little bright green Strasbourg flag which they had just picked up at some promotion stand at the entrance to the stadium. Well. No. The 9,000 were for the men's match afterwards. During the second half, more and more people arrived. For the first half, there were probably between 2,000 and 3,000. And some of them hadn't just come for the women's match (or in fact the double header) but also for the girls' football events which took place before. It was a whole Alsatian football event. But I think Lyon do tend to draw decent crowds for their home matches.
fansoccer.de reports that North Korea have kicked out their coach and replaced him with U17 coach Sin Ui Gun, who has already been coaching the team for the first two matches of the Olympics qualifiers (0-0 vs China and 1-0 vs Australia).
The Belgian and Dutch leagues are planning to merge into one as from the 2012/13 season. Current plans are for teams to play in their respective countries for the first half of the season, then ranks 1-4 from each country will play the "BeNeLeague A", ranks 5-8 the "BeNeLeague B". The best Belgian and the best Dutch teams would both get to go to the CL.
Grings and Fuss joined the Zurich team practice for the first time yesterday. Looks like they're beginning to realise what they're letting themselves in for...
Think of their poor teammates: one day they're mucking around on the field, not taking things too seriously; the next they have Inka Grings screaming at them.
Plenty of highlights (well, I don't know about highlights, but plenty of video minutes anyway ) of the recent friendly between Duisburg and Paris St. Germain: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGoeuPpgrh8"]FCR 2001 Duisburg vs. Paris Saint-Germain 2:0 - Videos zum Spiel - YouTube[/ame]
China continue having trouble getting back on their feet: They've missed the Olympics qualification barring a mathematical miracle, and now their coach has resigned and Han Duan is ending her international career.
Well, I was there for the historic occasion: Inka Grings and Sonja Fuss playing their first ever Swiss league match. This is their new home (yes, it is as green as it looks, all the way round): The picture must have been taken from the old people's home just next door. Any connection? It was hard enough to get to Zurich and back: congestions and roadworks almost kept me from getting there in time, and on the way back my faithful GPS navigation system and I had the hardest time finding our way out of the jungle again. Was the match worth it? Wellllll.... Grings, of course, scored. Her club won 4-1 against poor Basel, whose casualties from the last few weeks were sitting next to me in the stand (that big futuristic green thing in the middle) and were probably more numerous than the team on the field. A few good players were left, but they wouldn't have won against Jena tonight, never mind against the current leader of the ranking - who probably got an extra boost just from having the two new additions in the line-up. "From the Frauen-Bundesliga", the speaker announced, when he read out the names. All in all, 510 spectators had come to watch the big event. They applauded when Grings scored, but I didn't get the impression that they were willing to celebrate her as their new star just like that. She played OK, did her share of defending as well as attacking - and her share of yelling, too. But when she wants her team mates to follow her up the field, her high German "Hoch! Hoch!!" is less effective than an "Chömmet ufe!" would have been, so she has a learning curve ahead of her. (She did say when she left Duisburg that she didn't speak the language of the country she was going to. She must have had Russian in mind at the time, but she has probably realised by now that Swiss German can be just as "Greek" for a girl from the Rhineland.) Sonja Fuss was in central defense, doing a decent job although nothing spectacular. Her most frequent move were upturned palms, as if to say "I don't know what to do with the ball?!" The chips were about the same: OK, but nothing spectacular. And only to be had with ketchup, no mayonnaise. A bit hard to swallow for this German. But Grings and Fuss will have enough to do sampling Swiss chocolate, Rösti and cheese fondue in the next few months anyway. En guete!
How can they not?! On a sadder note, in the last minute of Japan's last game of Asia's Olympics qualifying tournament (1-0 against China, when Japan were already qualified), Maruyama tore her ACL.
for the first summer since Lyon has been under the wing of the men's club there was no new arrival of any importance (it's true they missed out on tonazzi on a technicality); it's especially surprising since this is the first year they promised a big signing, and the attractiveness of the club has never been higher. in the women's section of the olweb forums speculation is strong that since the european leagues have started, and in the states contracts run for a calendar year instead of june to june like here, the big name will have an american ring to it. the wishlist is pretty wild-eyed: cheney, morgan, solo... wambach! my first reaction is that these posters are dangerously insane, but strange and amazing things do happen; does anyone here think there is a hint of a beginning of a possibility that a USWNT star could make such a move in january?
Well, that's kind of my point. They're either lush, minging or average. Wondered if you had discovered something that elevated the common chip/fry into the realms of the 'spectacular'? Surely, it's how hungry or desperate for the chip the individual is that gives it spectacular status, as opposed to any innate qualities the chip itself possesses? I HATE shit like this. Maybe it's a male conspiracy?
Hey guignol, I personnally do. Solo: I think that if they mentionned her, it's just a wish, not a potential arrival. We're stacked with goalkeepers now that Deville signed. About all other names, why not? As long as a club can afford signing those players, everything can happen. Remember that Stensland and Nordby had arrived in January a few years ago. Schelin had left Damallsvenskan in the middle of their season to join Lyon in September. Not to mention that if President Aulas really wants a signing, he'll have a big signing. And it seems like he's wishing one... Edit.: I forgot the Abily and Bompastor case, even though they're both french and the motivation to come back in France would not be the same. When they came back, both were still wanted by their WPS club team, but they still managed to find an agreement and sign with OL.
both these posts show ethnocentrism of the most revolting, pigheaded kind (i mean that of course in the nicest possible way). i've never had particularly good fries in germany but they may well exist: in the northern reaches of france, in belgium, and up into the wilds of darkest holland, french-fried potatoes can reach a level of quality that anglo-saxons cannot imagine. mind that not all pommes frites are created equal, but establishments exist where the question "do you want fries with that?" would be anathema. their tuberous masterworks, made from spuds of specially chosen variety and size, freshly peeled and cut, fried to order, are to "chips" as fine camembert is to blackboard chalk. that is their stock in trade; all else on their bill of fare is a side order. contrarywise micol shows the basest ignorance of just how low culinary expectations can go in the lands of the mushy pea and of cheese in aerosol cans. most of all, she loses all credibility when opposing catsup and mayonnaise: it's true that a good saté sauce can be an amusing change, but the condiment par excellence for frites is dijon mustard.
I just love talking about CHIPS! Wooohoo! Seriously just wanted to know if I was missing something. But I love your pigheaded passion (btw - have you seen my passport photo or something to know what I look like?!). They're fried in all different types of fats in the UK, depending on the prevailing fashion in the region. Up here, it's vegetable oil, in Yorkshire it's generally beef dripping etc. Chips are different to fries. They're fatter. Mind, the seasoning on some of the 'fries' I had in Germany in June really made them a step above. In Belgium? Hmmm, I think the beer won, so I can't recall.
yes, i remember being at lunch with some people in gent at a place that specialized in mussels and frites... they were really good. and there was an englishman in the group picking through his, trying to find the "best" ones: meaning the fattest and soggiest ones!