The beautiful game

The last two nights I actually found something watchable on Italian TV - UEFA Champions League football or soccer.

Normally watching soccer excites me as much as updating my virus protection software. But there’s something different about watching European soccer in Europe.

The passion of the fans and players burns through the TV set. The games were at night, and it was definitely cold, but no one cared a bit. The fans are all bundled up and the coaches are in full-length winter coats and hats. But the players were in jerseys and shorts.

The first night I caught the tail end of the match between London’s Arsenal and Real Madrid, which boasts the highly publicized and highly paid David Beckham. I didn’t see his wife, Posh Spice, anywhere, but Beckham was hard to miss with his long, golden locks. True to form, he bent one free kick brilliantly around several defenders, but his teammate blew the shot.

The final score was Arsenal 1, Real Madrid 0, but it wasn’t as boring as the score would seem to indicate.

Wednesday night’s game was much better, as Werder Bremen of Germany hosted Turin’s own club, Juventus. Bremen was leading 1-0 in the 73rd minute when something happened that never happens in soccer: an offensive explosion.

First Pavel Nedved scored a goal for Juventus. Nine minutes later, David Trezeguet headed in another goal for Juventus. Five minutes later, Tim Borowski tied it for Bremen. And five minutes after that, with the game extended for injury time, Borowski boomed a corner kick to Nelson Valdez, who headed it to Johan Micoud, who ricocheted it in.

Bam! Four goals in 20 minutes.

I have no clue if the games are on back home, and I probably wouldn’t watch them if they were. But for now at least, you can add me to the masses of Europeans who call themselves football fans.