I’m in France at the moment, to be precise I am sitting enjoying une demie bière on a deckchair watching the surf on the Atlantic Ocean between Biarritz and Bayonne.
The place is called Anglet. It takes an hour to walk along the length of the beach – this the bier stop! There is a piece of graffiti over a small bridge that I noticed earlier. It said “free all Basque prisoners!”
This is Basque Country. There is a Fanzone tonight to show the France v Belgium World Cup semi final where Celtic will be represented by Dedryck Boyata – who will most likely be on the bench for Belgium.
For his sake I will probably favour Belgium this evening but normally it would be a case of cheering Les Bleus.
By the time that game kicks off, Celtic will have played a vital Champions League Match 2000 odd miles away in Armenia.
Our season is shaped by these games, early season banana skins that provide us with our own status report from a football governing body that favours 5 countries to the detriment of the rest of Europe.
Celtic are a former winner of the European Cup. A beaten finalist too and have played in numerous semi-finals. We are not alone in having a strong pedigree but are left fighting for our status in the early summer to satisfy UEFA’s lust for tv cash.
It’s a dangerous game though. The brass neck in even calling it the Champions League isn’t lost on real football people.
Boyata could be a World Cup winner a week on Sunday. Yet his club – a proud club with real pedigree in the European game – is left to play 8 games to even reach the so-called Champions League.
Something needs to change but in the meantime COYBIG and good luck to our Belgian Bhoy.
