Champions' League 2010 - 2011... Group A

Now that the draw is done, let's take one group at a time and (since this is my blog,) I'll share a few words on how I want things to go about and if the odds are on my side for that.

Urm, Group A to begin with!

Inter Milan
SV Werder Bremen
Tottenham Hotspur
FC Twente

My pre-draw wish was to see Inter-Real-Spurs-Twente (the strongest possible group? - taking the English and Spanish teams out in Pot 1 for Real & Spurs) in the same group. Three fourths of it coming true isn't that bad, is it? Now that I think about it, this is a better group. Much as I'd like to see what Mourinho will do with Real, Werder Bremen's game is something I've loved (in the past). Results (I don't see many games anymore...) don't seem to favour them after Diego's Italian transfer - they needed a high-voltage surge to end up third last season. Struggling to beat Sampdoria and a 1-4 loss to Hoffenheim is a bad start, but Werder Bremen are a strong team even without Mesut Ozil, no doubt - and have it in them to run through Tottenham or Twente.

FC Twente are strong (supposedly) and on a roll, and since I don't know much about them, I'd rather wait and watch what happens. It'd be interesting to see how Inter fare without the One - it is still an awesome team anyway. One part of me wants Inter to die out in the group stage while another wants Inter to progress and get butchered by Bayern (as Capt.Haddock would put it, "Revenge! Revenge! REVENGE!"). Tottenham, urm, completes this awesome set - and hence most of us will get to watch the other three teams on TV! It is a strong team and can even beat Inter on their day, but yea, that still sounds like a fairy tale to me, given their off-the-scale unpredictability.

Who I want to progress: Bremen, Spurs
Who will (prediction) : Inter, Spurs
Underdogs: FC Twente
What's awesome about Group A: Four strong teams

Idho vanduten...

When I stopped playing football by the end of 1997 (yea, a couple of years after I started - not like a career or anything, he he), I knew what I was getting into. My instructor had asked me to keep exercising and if not, I would become fat, especially around the belly portion, once I finished growing taller.

Anyone who has seen me in the past four or five years can say whether I worked on his advice. :)

I was back on the field today after seven years (thirteen, if you count playing for a team) and realized a lot of things.

a) I have a serious respiratory issue I am planning to overlook for the moment.
b) I am planning to run and explore as much as possible.
c) I can still bend the ball.
d) Most importantly, I was of the opinion that my football 'skills' (if I may use that word) would have gone down exponentially since '97. I was either wrong about the exponential function back then, or we have reached infinity. Yes, I am back at zero. In fact, zero is over rating it.
e) I can't run continuously for even five minutes now.
f) I should.
g) Total distance covered was at least four kilometres (including the 8-6 end-to-end on the basketball court).
h) This is just as fun as it was.

Much thanks to Lian and Devabasu for letting me in first.