Day 18 - Bye Gerry, Përshëndetje shqiptare

Bye Gerry, Përshëndetje shqiptare 

Today we said bye-bye to Gerry who returned to blighty, leaving Simon and me to say hello to the arriving Albanians, Romanians... and English.

After the now customary morning breakfast blog session, we decided to do a bit of Lyonnais sightseeing and set of to walk to the old town again.

After a bit of confusion as to the right way to get there, I had to eat humble pie as Simon had called the route correctly and I had got it wrong.

It was invigorating walk up to Fourviere Hill overlooking the old town. Simon and Gerry impressed by jogging up 124 steps while I lagged behind. The views from the top were well worth it though and at the top there was a happy atmosphere of Romanian, Albanian and English fans enjoying a bit of normal tourism.

Beautiful stained glass in one of the cathedrals

Strawberries and cherries

After having got an Albanian to teach me how to say the name of his country in Albianian (getting a bit of habit that - it's "Shqiptare" pronounced something like "Shkiparay") we descended back down to the old town for a bite to eat. 

We had savoury crepes (spinach and cheese for me) and shared a bottle of Gerry's white wine choice as the bouncer-cum-waiter transformed into singer/entertainer and gave a rendition of "I did it my way" to an unfortunate table of hapless tourists. Luckily, he didn't decide to try it on us.

On the way back down

Gerry's farewell lunch

Albanians having fun in Lyon

After that, we strolled back to the hotel. At one point a mass of Albanian fans in the street were lighting fireworks and I decided to hang back as Gerry and Simon went for a closer look. There was no problem but as I waited I chatted to a couple of Sheffield Wednesday fans who told me that there would be extra trains after the match from St Ettiene back to Lyon after all. It had been a concern after the last train from Marseille was just 8:14am.

We got back to base camp and I bought tickets to St Ettiene for the England game tomorrow as Gerry packed and got ready to leave us.

We saw him off at the tram station to the airport and then I did a bit of shopping (new socks required) and blogging.

Bye Gerry - You should have stayed longer

Simon and me had another venture into the old town to go to fulfill one of my requests - to visit the craft beer pub in Lyon called "Les Fleures du Malt" by the river Saone (another piece of humble pie eaten there, credit to Simon - I thought the only river running though Lyon was the Rhone but in fact it is the confluence of two rivers).

Very nice too. I had two very nice French pale ales. Pale Ale Pig, brewed in the north of France and Nouveau Monde, a more locally brewed beer. Both very tasty. The bar itself has a lovely ambiance, situated in a cellar with lovely topical painted art on the walls.

Les Fleures du Malt - Another Craft Beer Pub

Good selection of beers - also have a menu "book" of bottled beers

Art on the cellar walls

Simon and I had our long anticipated debate about the Palestinian issue over two beers here. In a nutshell, Simon's sympathy lies more with the Palestinians and blames Israel for human rights abuses. He quite rightly makes the point that the creation of Israel after the war was done by the super powers and that innocent people were simply moved against their will to accommodate this grand plan.  I maintain that Israel has the right to exist somewhere and where better than in the place were they lived historically and had the highest percentage population, even in 1948. My argument is that Palestine itself was formed by British and French imperialists anyway and does not really have a distinct ethnic identity from the vast arab lands that surround the tiny slither that is Israel. It should have been done better, but the greater good and all that.

Anyway, it all ended amicably and we set off back, again, to the Part-Dieu station. The heavens opened again for another downpour - the weather really has been terrible - and as Simon got soaked (Unlike me, he had not brought his rain coat) he decided to get changed and not go to the match after all.

Dark clouds looming again

So I set off alone to the Lyon stadium again for my 4th match of the tournament. Albania v Romania. This was the only ticket I got through the original random ticket draw and was, as far as I know, the least subscribed to match. 

Personally, having a Romanian born mother, I have always felt a bit guilty that I have given almost all of my "ethnic" attention to Lithuania and that was one of the reasons I had planned, earlier, to visit Bucharest. For the game, I had decided not to have any strong affiliation but to support whichever team played better.

Stamora - in the west of Romania. My mother's Birthplace

As I approached the ground I was shocked to be pulled up by a security guy who told me that I had to leave my bag behind at the "Consigment" hut. I showed him how little I had in my bag - just a rain coat, that I proceeded to unfold and put on, a tiny recharger - which I put in my coat pocket, and a bottle of water - which I proceeded to drink. 

"OK. that's fine" he said, as I collapsed the bag and put that in my pocket too.

But it didn't end there. Apparently the new rule was no shirts that did not belong to the teams playing are allowed. As I was wearing a Wales shirt, I had to leave that behind instead.

I protested politely, suggesting I  could wear my T shirt on top and wear a coat. No good. 

"But look!" There's a Norwich City shirt and CSKA Sofia shirt and a Olympic Lyonais shirt"

"Club shirts are Ok. Only Albania and Romania national shirts. This is France"

So, bizarrely, I had to hand in my Wales shirt to the little hut, picking up a ticket to reclaim it after the match.

I suppose the pointless stupid violence that some fans bring to tournaments like this has consequences for all of us.

The thing that put me in a bad mood most was that, as I entered the ground there was, of course, many, many fans wearing all sorts of national shirts. I saw French, German, Spanish, Swiss, English, Italian, Belgian and even a Welsh shirt.

Bah!

Albania 1 Romania 0

Anyway the game was really an exciting nail biter. Albanian fans, incredibly, outnumbered Romanians by about 6 to 1 in the ground and made lots of atmosphere. On the pitch, their team responded with a magnificent, well-organised display which resulted in a 1-0 victory.

Albania's official population is less than 3 million although of course like all nations they have a massive diaspora abroad. Romania, by contrast, has almost 20 million people. By my reckoning that means Albania out-supported their bigger rivals by a factor of about 40. Such is the impression of a first ever appearance at a big finals tournament like this. Romanian fans have, presumably seen, and been frustrated, by this before.

Albania, another team making it's finals debut here, has a population of less than 3 million

I was a little frustrated in the first half as two fans sat immediately in front of me kept standing up whenever Albania attacked, so I had to too. Fair enough. It was their biggest day ever. At half time I had a little wander around and saw the very plush corporate facilities, amazingly, just a glass window away from the rest of us. I shuddered to think what a bunch of drunken England yobs would have done if they'd been placed near there.

Impressive passionate Albanian support

Romania pressed for an equaliser in the second half but Albania were simply too well organised and frustrated almost all their efforts to seal a deserved win which gives them a chance (slim) of making it to the knock out phase.

France 0 Switzerland 0

In the other game France hit the woodwork twice (at least) but couldn't quite get the goal against Switzerland, disabusing any notion of match fixing to make sure both teams went through in 1st and 2nd spots.

So ends Group A. France through in first place. Switzerland in second spot. Albania, in 3rd with 3 points and a -2 goal difference, will have an agonising wait for the next three days to see if they go through.

Group A - Done and dusted

Hosts France are rewarded by now having a week off before their round of 16 game in Lyon on Sunday, 26th June against a 3rd place team from groups C, D or E. At the moment that looks like it could be Sweden, Northern Ireland or the Czech Republic. Switzerland can now look forward to a round of 16 game against the runner up in Group C (maybe Poland) next Saturday, 25th June in St Ettiene. Albania must wait and see if they are one of the top 4 third placed teams. If they are they might end up playing Germany or England, assuming those two teams win their groups. Romania join Ukraine on the flights home. Shame.

We are now into the second half of the tournament as 26 of the 51 games have been played. Goals per game remains below 2 at 1.846. 35% of games have been drawn. 

The games so far - highlighted ones are ones I have attended

After the match I had a nice chat with several England fans on the bus, then train, before arriving back at the hotel about 25 to midnight.

Tomorrow, it's England again!

Aljice

Lyon