Letter from Lyon

Lyon v. Saint-Etienne






God is it gorgeous out today, no way to describe but with the french expression, doux- sweet/soft out there today.
The game is under way, nearly half time, and while not beautiful, it'll do, the offense has found their stride.
Much anticipated and feared, this "Derby" was questionable because of it's proximity to the OL/AS Roma second match up coming up this week, as well as just the fact that Lyon hasn't been playing well at all, except for the big matches. Also hotly contested, the Derby has been going on quite some time, back before when Les Verts were huge and had Platini on their team, I believe it was during the 70s (correct me if I'm wrong). They say that back then, thanks to the soccer team's prestige, Lyon was considered the banlieu (negative term for suburbs) of St. Etienne. Now that Lyon is the well known and well loved, it's the reverse, St. Etienne is considered the banlieu of Lyon. As much as I love Lyon, I was hoping for a better showing from Les Verts, atleast from their keeper. I love Jeremie Janot, the smallest goalkeeper in the French Ligue 1. Being a tiny goalkeeper myself, I've got a soft spot in my heart for this dude. Plus, he used to wear a spider man goalie jersey, pretty hot no? Unfortunately, goal number one by Mister Kallstrom (who started today, he deserved it), was thanks to a misclear by Janot himself. Goal number 2 was a beautiful hit by Tiago, so we're spreading the offensive work around now, which is good news. OL looks well in form and confident and we can only hope it holds up to a wonderful game Tuesday, vs. AS Roma.
Quite a tough week, the Derby, then three days later, Champions League, then, four days later Marseilles. Not a very kind schedule.
I'll try and write back after the second half, if there's such that merits it! Otherwise, a pretty nice night for Les Lyonnais.
Here's to keeping everyone happy and healthy in the next week.



More to come hopefully! If not, I will at least key you in on who those players mentioned in there are.

*Sidenote: CASA Select's first game was shaky but still resulted in a win, 1-0. The goal, however, was an alert takeaway by the striker up front. Although it was shaky, there were moments of good soccer.