Euro fever.

I am addicted to soccer for all the wrong reasons.

I will confess that I am no soccer fan and I know close to nothing about soccer, apart from the fact that the game involves 22 men chasing after one ball with the aim of kicking it into the goalpost. I am pretty familiar with the basic terms like 'penalty', 'foul', the 'yellow' and 'red' cards, and the concept that was most difficult to remember - 'offside' (I finally drilled it into my head) but that's about it. I never follow the EPL or other comparatively 'smaller' events, but I very much adore following the World Cup and UEFA Euro, especially the part where I place my bets at Singapore Pools/TAB, depending on my physical location. :D And of course I watch soccer for the eye candy, duhhhh. ;)

The last few days have been absolute madness, with the start of the UEFA Euro Cup over the last weekend. My soccer obsession has seen me cough up $20 for a very exclusive "Euro Channel" on Cable TV, which will last me throughout the Euro season this month. -_- Which means I have to watch as many matches possible to make the money worthwhile... even if that translates to staying up till the wee hours of the morning and panda eyes the following day.

Euro 2008 made me realise how much I miss being a student. I remember the World Cup two years ago, when I used to make frequent trips to TAB in Melbourne with Piggy/HJ during the exam period to "de-stress". :) We lost a shitload of cash betting on supposed soccer powerhouses such as Japan and France, but somehow we found a great deal of excitement in persevering with our bets and staying up REALLY early (think 7am) to watch the 'live' matches. I must have written all my final assignments and studied for all my exams in front of the TV that semester. :D

So back to Euro '08. I'd just finished watching the Spain-Russia match and oh. my. GAWWWD, I was once again reminded of how much I LOVE the Latino boys. Torres, Casillas, Fabregas, and Villa from the Spanish team, and C. Ronaldo (raaaarrrh!) who plays for Portugal. Having eye candy as motivation to stay glued to a game close to 100 minutes long definitely helps, ha!

Pics of my favourite Latino soccer boys in the next entry! Panda is off to bed now.

Summer dies here and so could I underneath
So much like the ones in and on my skin and somewhere in between
This opaline is everything I see
Your opaline brings me to my knees.

Dishwalla - Opaline.