MAN U BARCA

When not in Rome what do you do?? No cable, no ESPN? What does an old soccer hooligan do? Crank up the Sirius  XM Radio on channel 102 and let Rome come to you. That's right! From right here in the Casita del East Austin I'll be following the action!!! The wireless I get from the landlord is  looking a little weak as it usually does in the day, so I may be dropping in and out, but I'll do my best to hit the highlights today.

Checking over at the Guardian it appears the Police in Rome are afraid that Italian Ultras and Spanish Boixo Nois may be intending to gang up on Man U extremists!!! Oh the fun outside the Stadium!!


Roman Police outside the Stadio Olimpico in Rome

In the last 24 hours a Man U supporter was attacked by four men outside his hotel. A 23 year-old American, mistaken for an Englishman, was stabbed in an Italian coastal town.

It's now  less than 2 hours until match time!! CHEERS!!!!

ALL TIMES BELOW ARE U.S.  CENTRAL TIME

12:01 pm

Listening to BBC now.  They've got folx live in Manchester. Everyone is milling about in the Red Shirts of the Red Devils. The broadcaster on now is in a Pub. It's going nuts there. He says- "All eyes are on Rome,  especially in Manchester." There is   now a question about how Chelsea and Man City fans feel about the final. The presenters are doubting that the Man City folx will be going for Man U.

They've now got a guy outside Stadio Olimpico.

They are talking about how a bunch of Barca and Man U fans had a laugh outside the Stadium yesterday. They were posing with a guy dressed as a gladiator. They then started shouting at each other "WHO ARE YOU?" They shouted in response- "I AM SPARTACUS" over and over again..

Hmmm.. BBC may actually be covering the live match, too. That would be cool. I'll bet dollars to doughnuts their guys will be better than the folx on Sirius XM. We'll see.

12:08 PM

BBC is now talking about Ohama's Supreme Court nomination. They tend to correctly pronounce the name. The accent is on that last syllable.



12:17 pm


Fanaticos del Barca!!!!

1:14pm

Okay, really, I'm throwing my lot in with Barca. I found my old  Barca T-shirt. This shirt is from 1999. Damn! It's ten years old. But really.  I'm not showing faves. Really. Trust me.


Fitba Hooligan

BBC says there is a party-like atmosphere at Stadio Olimpico. The fans are getting along and not killing each other. Of course, if you spent hundreds of euros for a ticket plus travel costs, you wouldn't want to screw things up by making trouble either, would you??

1:22 pm

Over on XM Sirius 102, there's a Scotman doing an interview of an American who plays in La Liga. I don't know who the player  his. I'm really behind in keepin' up with Fitba. Anyone know who this player  is?  The player is Josie Altidore. An American who plays in La Liga, I think they said Villareal.

1:34pm

I've stolen the starting line-ups from the Guardian. Here they are:

BARCELONA:

 1-Victor Valdes; 5-Carles Puyol, 24-Yaya Toure, 3-Gerard Pique, 16-Silvinho; 28-Sergio Busquets, 6-Xavi, 8-Andres Iniesta; 10-Lionel Messi, 9-Samuel Eto'o, 14-Thierry Henry.
Subs: Pinto, Caceres, Muniesa, Keita, Gudjohnsen, Bojan, Pedrito.

MANCHESTER UNITED:

 1-Edwin van der Sar; 22-John O'Shea, 5-Rio Ferdinand, 15-Nemanja Vidic, 3-Patrice Evra; 13-Park Ji-sung, 16-Michael Carrick, 8-Anderson, 11-Ryan Giggs; 7-Cristiano Ronaldo, 10-Wayne Rooney.
Subs: Kuszczak, Rafael Da Silva, Evans, Nani, Scholes, Berbatov, Tevez.

Referee: Massimo Busacca (Switzerland*)

We are now about 5 minutes away from kick off. I will be converting from Central time to Game time. Cheers


PSYCHED!!!!

MIN 2: Ronaldo get's a shot on goal, but saved by the Barca goalie, Valdes.

MIN 6:

Sat Rad 102 announcers not so bad. Sounds like a Northern England Accent. Thank God. No Americans.

MIN 8: Ronaldo shot on goal. Deflected by Valdes.

MIN 10: Yet another shot by Ronaldo. Man U have had 5 shots on Goal. Talk of a near GOAL.

MIN 11: HOLY POO!! GOAL BARCELONA!!! GOAL!! GOAL!! 1-0 Barca. Their first shot on Goal and it is past Van Der Sar, GOAL BY Samuel Eto'o. Whoa. Helluva a START TO THIS ONE. What a sweet strike by Eto'o!!!!!!!!!!

MIN 12: Yet more from Barca!! Man U is a little rattled. AH! What fun. Can Man U pull even. This is fun!!

MIN 15: Ronaldo at it again close to the area. Free kick Given to Man U.

MIN 16: Who will take the kick? Close free kick. Just outside area. Giggs takes it. Over the bar. Thwwppp!!

MIN 19: Shot by Barca. Close. Shot by Messi is a whiff. Just a whiff.

MIN 21: Corner for Man U. Giggs takes it. Swings to Ronaldo for a header. Over the bar!! Way over.

MIN 25: Just looked at match pics. Weird Man U kits. All white. Never seen that before. Hmmm. Where is their red. Guess  Barca got to choose jerseys. Man U either wears Red or Blue which are the featured Barca colors. Ergo, white. Don't they have another color??? I think they have a green kit. Would that have been confusing??????


What the hell are those  white  kits for Man U???

MIN 29: MORE THAN A TEAM is the Barca slogan  per the announcers. They talk about the politics of the team and their opposition to Franco's fascist Real Madrid. That's why I like Barca. Commies good!! Fascists bad!! Announcers clip the political talk and get back to the action. Rooney and Ronaldo seem to be warming up for Man U.

MIN 31: I was wondering. Is this what TWITTER is like???

MIN 32: Man U have had 6 shots on Goal. Still goose egging it.

MIN 34: Barca corner. Played small to Messi. Ball out again. Another Barca corner kick.

MIN 35: Barca corner on the opposite side. Ball goes for Pique. He whiffs. Off a Man U player. Throw in for Barca.

MIN 36: Barca on the attack again. A few minutes near the Man U goal now. Keeping the pressure.

MIN 37: Man U on attack finally. Shot by Ferdinand.

MIN 38: Pressure from Barca again. Ooops.. Rooney takes it away then kicks it out.. Thwwwpppp.. Announcers say that Rooney is a center man not a left wing player like he is today.

MIN 40: Rooney offside. Thwwppp..   Come  on Wayne. Easy pal.

MIN 41: Henry Offside. Oh so French. Qui? Moi?? he says..

MIN 42: Game a little sloppy now. Far cry from the first 20 min.

MIN 43: Messi shot saved by Van der  Sar who kicks it out of play. Huh?? Thhwwwppp!!!!

MIN 44: Messi again. Van der Sar save again. Van der  Sar keeps the return in play this time.

MIN 45: Messi again on the  attack. Barca pressuring. Added time is  one  minute. Barca getting warm. Thwwpp.. Give  away. Oh.. Barca gets it back.. Back on attach. Crap.. Missed shot..

WHISTLE..

HALF TIME... Whew......



Barca Celebrates the only goal of the first half.

So the Barca shirt seems to have helped the Catalonians. How can I help the Mancunians in half two?? The closest I have to a Man U shirt is a Morrissey shirt. Okay. Here goes. You know I am such a good luck charm!!!


GO MAN U for the 2nd half.

MIN 46: And they are off in half number 2.

MIN 48: Close shot by Henry for Barca. Whoa. That could have been it!!

Of course Remember 1999 and the Man U come back against Bayern Munich.

MIN 50: Another shot on goal by Eto'o. Save by Van der Sar for Man U.

MIN 51: Some line up changes by MAN U. Not sure  who.

MIN 52: Messi and Eto'o get close for Barca again. Call for penalty. Forget it. Barca is hot.

MIN 52: Another attack by Barca. Barca player brought down at edge of area. Iniesta brought down. Free kick. Close one   for Barca. Great chance for goal. Who will take the free kick. Just outside the 18 yd box.

MIN 53: XAVI OFF THE POST!!! WHOW!!!!!!!! Great free kick. Close for BARCA. You could hear it  hit the post over the radio. That was some power on that thing.

MIN 54: Some guy from Austin has emailed the announcers. He is for  Man U.

MIN 55: Man U on attack. Giggs misses the ball. Man U keeps possession.

MIN 57: Whoa. Ronaldo gets a close shot. Whiffs it but goes off Barca player. Thrown in for Man U.

MIN 58: Comments from emailers to announcers. "Barca is a real team, not corporation like Man U!" Love it. Ah.. Malcolm Glazer and his Man U team. Go commies!!!! Commies 1 Capitalists 0; You know Mal Glazer right?/ THink Tampa Bay Bucs.. Hmmmm.. Tom Hicks owner of Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars is also majority owner of Liverpool FC. Global, no???

MIN 63: Corner by Giggs. He misses everybody.

Berbatov comes on for Man U.

MIN 65: Man U on attack. Barca on COUNTER!!!

MIN 66: Barca  on attack now.

I think Carrick went off in favor of Berbatov.

MIN 69: Man U win a corner. Crowd going nuts. Giggs takes  the  kick. Pique clears it.

MIN 71: MESSI GOAL!!! MESSI GOAL!! MESSI GOAL!!!! 2-0 BARCA!!! GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MIN 74: RONALDO close for Man U!! Whew! Sense of urgency for MAN U now!!!!!!!!

DOWN TO THE LAST 15 MINUTES!!!!!

MIN 75: Can Man U come back? Barca still attacking. Van der Sar has to make a big save.

MAN U won it last year in an all English final. They are looking to be the first back to back Champions League winners since the 70's. Looks dim now, though.

MIN 78: I think Ronaldo just got a yellow.. The Moz shirt does not seem to be helping Man U.

MIN 80: Messi!! Another shot on Goal!!!

MIN 80: Uh oh.. trouble. Bad challenge by Man U. Yellow card to Man U player. Yellow on Paul Scholes.

MIN 81: Time ticking for Man U.

MIN 84: Barca get close to another Goal!!!

MIN 85: Man U attacking.  Thhwwwpppp...!! ROONEY OFFSIDE!!!!! AYE!!!!

MIN 86: Tick! Tick! for the English side. Barca fans celebrating.

MIN 86: Corner for Man U. Rooney takes it. Berbatov heads it over the bar. Thwwpppp!

MIN 87: TICK! TICK!!!

Shall we go ahead and declare Barcelona FC champions of European rich club football, or, soccer as you "merkins say..

MIN 89: Air out of Man U.

Ode to Catalonia!! What would George Orwell do????

MIN 90: Thhwwwpppp!!!

3 minutes added time.. oy!!!! AYE!!!!!

MIN 91: Barca still attacking! Corner for Barca!!!!!!!!!

MIN 92: Rooney steals. Clears the ball.

OFF GOES THE MOZ SHIRT..

WHISTLE!! FULL TIME!!

FINAL Barcelona 2, Manchester United 0, nil, zero.

Celebrate Spain!!!

Mayhem in Rome!!!!!

BARCELONA ARE CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE for  2009!!!