Well it’s all football headlines at the moment but this could be my last on the subject in this current spell. So Chelsea win the Europa League trophy. Ho hum. I’m delighted that it’s an English winning team of course but they should really have been whupped last night if Benfica had had a fox in the box. The thing is they are a joyless bunch and I find it very hard to take any delight in their success or like and admire anything about them.
One of the few things I do like though is Frank Lampard and you know what, if I was him, having become their all-time scorer last week-end and having got the last piece in a collection of achievable club winners’ medals, I would have been seriously tempted to tell the club to screw a new contract and go and have some fun in LA or Paris or Manchester even.
Speaking of winners’ medals did you realise that Fernando Torres is now the only footballer in history to hold them as a team member of the current holders of the World Cup, the EUFA European Championship, the Champions League and now the Europa League trophy. Not bad for a striker who’s lost his mojo.
One final thought on the Chelsea playing staff; I see that it looks like England manager Roy Hodgson is to reward Ashley Cole not just with his 100th golden cap for the upcoming friendly with Ireland, but also to make him captain for the occasion. That’d be the same Ashley Cole who stood up in court to say that JohnTerry was a stand up kinda guy and not at all racist, and who subsequently tweeted that the FA were a BUNCHOFTWATS when they judged Terry to be guilty over racism towards a fellow pro. This is the FA who run the England team of course. Now I don’t hold too many candles for the chumps in the FA but I do imagine they must have been pretty dismayed by Cole’s considered thoughts given that they consequently fined the nitwit (and paid represenative of course) £90,000 for his outburst.
So everything’s fine and dandy now? Looks like it. Makes you wonder what would you have to do to be totally ostracised by the FA (other than be the brother of the target of JT’s racism of course). By the way that’s John Terry in the picture above holding up the latest of their trophies in his kit again. Funny, I’m sure I saw him in the stands in his suit during the match.
Football eh.
pp
Pasta Paulie 
no, he has been so lucky! bit part player at both euros and world cup, yeah finished top goal scorer in the euro’s but scored most his goals when either spain were already winning and coming on as a sub! he didnt play in the champions league final and he was poor against befica, yes is goal was half decent, id say poor defending on benfica’s behalf though but he did what he had to. id say is very fortunate, when mourinho comes in we shall see how he goes then i have a felling it wont go that well! if your looking for me to compare torres to something id say a barcelona goalkeeper, where the rest of the team are the ones who wins the trophy, hes just has to be there.
Hi Sylvia
Fair enough but I was just making a point about the uniqueness of his medal haul. Not bad to show to his grand kids
Pp
Rafa is first up, followed by the players, and one non-player in full kit. Lampard and mascot Terry then raise the Europa league trophy aloft. Rafa is not in the scene, possibly having hidden to resist temptation to flip Vs. Chelsea fans will be dancing in the streets of Amsterdam tonight. And lots more besides.
Hi Mona
Thanks for checking in and for the comments. I’ve been thinking about the Rafa Benitez conundrum. He’s delivered success for Chelsea and lost his job (it’s not a unique scenario). He could even be the most unliked yet successful manager of all time (ie within a club). But you know what I bet he doesn’t worry about that one bit. before the Chelsea ‘interimship’ he was unemployed and trying to live down his ignominious spell at Inter (where he was succeeded by Mourinho who went on to win everything of course). Now he’s re-freshed his CV, been paid richly to take on a tough challenge and come away looking like a highly effective manager and he’ll be top of the list again for most of the managerial jobs that come available throughout Europe. Not bad for a Spanish waiter lookie likey.
pp
Real Madrid and Sevilla are the only teams to have retained the UEFA Cup. Real Madrid won the competition in 1985 and 1986 , whilst Sevilla retained the cup in 2007 after winning it in 2006 . Teams from Italy have won the competition the most times, with nine winners coming from the country.