Barcelona To Final In Rome

Iniesta's Away Goal In Added Time

Depending what brand of English you speak, Barcelona is/are going to the UEFA Cup Final in Rome. I'm delighted. I'm especially pleased because last week's 0-0 game with Chelsea was so frustrating. I hope know that Barca can beat Man U on the 27th.

Manchester United Wins. Barely.

Edwin van der Sar

90 minutes of really exceptional soccer in a very few sentences:

Cristiano Ronaldo scored for Manchester United in the 26th minute. Frank Lampard tied it for Chelsea in the 45th minute. That meant penalty kicks:

Petr Cech, maybe the world's greatest Goalkeeper, blocked Cristiano Ronaldo's shot on the third pk. John Terry then missed, hitting the post. Anderson and the ancient Ryan Giggs scored for Manchester; Salomon Kalou scored for Chelsea. Manchester Keeper Edwin van der Sar, the hero of the match, then batted away Nicolas Anelka's shot, giving Manchester United the win, 6-5 on pks.

The penalty kicks came in a pelting rain. Great television. Chelsea fans would like a re-do.

Tomorrow In Moscow

Ashley Cole

It's Chelsea versus Manchester United for the UEFA Champions League title at 8:45 pm CET Luzniki Stadium in Moscow. That's 2:45 pm EDT (New York Time). Details here.

At the moment I'm physically in the US. With the exception of various ex-pats from other corners of the world (read: Brits and those they colonized) and immigrants (most of whom prefer to speak Spanish), there is not much conversation about this event. The game, however, is on TV on ESPN2 at 2:30 pm, after the 2 pm pre-game show.

Is this going to stop the workday? Doubtful. Is this going to stop traffic? Cause the streets to be deserted? Quite unlikely. Is it going to make Sportcenter for more than 3 minutes? Doubtful. Know what? I don't care. I'm going to enjoy the game and feel happy that I got to watch it. Almost everybody around here has no clue what they're missing.

Going To the UEFA Final In Moscow, I Wish

Chelsea's Didier Drogpa With Manchester United Defenders


Big football/soccer news. Apparently, people with tickets to the UEFA Final on May 21 in Moscow can get into the country without a visa. This just in from UEFA:

All ticket holders attending the UEFA Champions League final in Moscow on 21 May will be able to use their match ticket as a visa entry to the Russian Federation for a 72-hour period.

High-level discussions
UEFA made the announcement on Monday. It said the decision had been made in order to organise the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League final in Moscow in the most efficient and enjoyable way, and following high-level discussions involving the UEFA President, Michel Platini, the Russian Government and UEFA. /snip

Exceptional gesture
"This is great news for football fans travelling to watch this year's UEFA Champions League final in Moscow," said Mr Platini. "Our job is to make sure that they are able to get to and from Moscow as easily as possible. I am therefore extremely pleased that, at my request, all fans travelling with a valid match ticket can use this to enter Russian territory, and for this I must thank wholeheartedly the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, the Russian Government, the City of Moscow and the Football Union of Russia for this exceptional and unprecedented gesture.

Football diplomacy. Meanwhile, I cannot imagine the US saying to people across the world, "We'll be happy to let you into the country without a visa, just show us your Super Bowl ticket." Similarly, I don't think China will open its borders to every Olympic ticket holder who shows up.

The game in Moscow, if you're not paying attention, is between the two most powerful English sides, Chelsea and Manchester United. Chelsea won a match between the two on April 27 2-1. This is going to be a great game between two remarkable teams who are tied at the top of the English Premier League.

Oh how I wish, I wish, I wish I could be at this game. I know. I hear you saying, "Yeah, you say that all the time about River Plate and Boca Juniors, about Barcelona and Madrid, about..." OK, it's true. But that, I remind you, doesn't mean that I don't want to go to all of these games. A lot.