OL (Olympique Lyonnais) Strikes Again!! - Lyon 4, Lille 1

Saturday night featured a rivalry between Olympique Lyonnais and division rivals Lille, who finished high in the standings last year and have joined OL in the Champions League playoffs between the top European football (soccer) teams. Adding to that was the fact that OL had lost maybe three of the four last matches to Lille ...

In the first half, OL, fielding a different lineup from the one I had seen in the last few matches, seemed a little jittery and was unable to find its rhythm. The only highlight of the first half was seeing the play of Kallstrom, the huge and powerful Swedish midfielder, who put himself between the ball and the quick and larger Lille players.

But in the second half, a completely different OL team arrived on the pitch and scored three goals in about twenty minutes. As I was sitting on the North end (the home side) I was able to see all three goals and with each goal the fans on my end roared with delight.

So far I've been lucky that OL has won all its matches. Of course my year here will have been satisfying academically, but I will also have to look back fondly on my time sitting in the bleachers as one among the diehard OL fans.