Olympique Lyonnais Ladies have won the UEFA Womens Champions League for the second season in a row, again by beating a German club by the score of 2-0 in the final, with their second title also marking them as the most successful club in the competition’s young (3-season) history.

Playing in a competition-record 50,000 crowd at the historic Olympiastadion in Munich (Germany) (which makes a rare footballing appearance since the Allianz Arena (which hosts the UEFA Champions League final on Saturday) became the city’s main football stadium in 2005), Lyon’s ladies, who were up against FFC Frankfurt, won the game with first-half goals from Le Sommer (15′p) and Abily (28′), who both end this season’s competition on 9 goals.

The win of the trophy is Lyon’s second in less than a week after claiming the Coupe de France Feminine against Montpellier Feminines on Sunday. With three league matches to go in their domestic season, Lyon are aiming for a treble, as well as the feat of going two entire seasons unbeaten (excluding penalty shoot-out defeats), as they currently stand at 82 competitive fixtures without a loss, the last being a Women’s Champions League defeat away to Sassari Torres in the 2009-10 season.

Lyon coach Patrice Lair summarised his team’s latest triumph, stating: “I’ve always said that the hardest part of the job is not to get to the top, but to stay there. When you’re European champions then everyone wants to beat you wherever you go. I think I surprised the girls before the game as I did something I never do: I kissed every one of them. It was to show that I was behind them. And it’s true that I love them for the moments of pure joy they have given me for two years.”

The result is the latest in a long line of recent successes for Lyon Feminin, but how far will they be able to stretch their run of dominance?

Ljubljana

Holland have won their second UEFA European Under-17 Championship tournament in a row, winning the 2012 tournament in Slovenia in a similar manner to 2011 in Serbia, by defeating one of their biggest national rivals, Germany, in the Final.

Played in Ljubjana in front of a crowd of over 11,600, the Netherlands squad still retained several of the class of 2011 that won 5-2 against the Germans, who had taken a lead through captain Leon Goretzka (45′). While it was not to be as dominant of a display by the Dutch, they equalised late on through substitute Elton Acolatse (80+1′), adding to the late show that saw off Georgia 2-0 in the Semi-Finals.

The match eventually went to a penalty shoot-out, where Holland (who have a poor at international shoot-outs) got the better of Germany (who are stereotypically ‘brilliant’ at shoot-outs). The guilty party for Germany was Marc Stendera, who missed on the 4th kick for his country, while the Dutch winner came with their 5th effort, from Tonny Trinidade de Vilhena, who had scored twice in the 2011 Final.

Dutch coach Albert Stuivenberg said of the triumph: “Here sits a very proud coach. The players got a little tired, but in the end we kept faith and in the last second our hard work paid off. That situation also gave us a lot of confidence going into penalties, which we had also practiced, but you can never know with them. I must say that we took them very well, giving the goalkeeper no chance – and of course, one was stopped by our keeper and that’s why I’m smiling!”

The result marks a second win in a row in this tournament for Holland (also their 2nd all-time win in the tournament’s history), and they will now be looking to qualify for the 2013 tournament to retain their crown. Will the Dutch be celebrating three-in-a-row in Slovakia next year?

The standings in full can be seen below:

2012 UEFA European U-17 Championship – Tournament Standings:

1) NED
2) GER
SF) POL, GEO
GS) FRA, ISL (A), BEL, SVN (B)

Nyon

The decision on the host nation of UEFA Euro 2020 took its first steps yesterday with known candidates, with the deadline passing for the ‘Declaration of Intention’ phase.

For almost a month past the first registered entry (Turkey), it seemed as though today could have been a day of announcing the 74m-strong nation as official hosts (with formalities and processes still involved to confirm their suitability), but two late entries around 12 hours from the deadline stopped Turkey’s celebrations for now at least.

The first bidder to throw their hat into the ring was a triple-edged Celtic effort from Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, and while Ireland’s participation in the bid was the last to be announced, the effort, thought to be partially led by the Scottish representatives, will look to be a fairly even representation of the three nations, who collectively need to have at least 10 stadiums (the number being used in the 24-team format) with a capacity of over 30,000 and meeting tournament standards, of which around 5 fully-functional football stadiums (plus at least 2 non-football venues) could be considered as ‘ready’ to go (without ‘city restrictions’) straight into the hosting bid.

A rival which could be considered as even less ‘prepared’ with physical facilities from the outset is Georgia, who currently have just one ‘tournament standard’ stadium (the 53,279-capacity Stadion Boris Paichadze in Tbilisi), but have outlined plans to improve their infrastructure and venues, which as demonstrated in the past (notably for 2012) is a key selling point of tournament bids.

A somewhat surprise solo entry (although the rules (rightly) state that all UEFA members are eligible to put their name forward), Georgia were originally set to come in as a joint bid with neighbours Azerbaijan (and possibly also Armenia) to soften their burden (with Azerbaijan focusing on the 2020 Olympic Games, an event which Turkey (the city of Istanbul) are also bidding for), but it appears now that they are going solo, and on paper now have a one-in-three shot of winning, after the non-entry of potential high-profile contenders such as Germany, Belgium, and Holland, amongst others.

The process will now see an 18-month stretch before the hosts are actually announced (in Q4 ’13 or Q1 ’14), but no new entries are allowed at this point, with the next phase of bidding being UEFA announcing the official requirements of the hosts.

With a straight three-horse race to find a winning host now on, it will begin as a very open battle, with facility-based ‘favourites’ Turkey now having to juggle split priorities for 2020 (with the IOC recently claiming that no other major sporting event can be held in the same country as Olympic hosts in the same year), but will they manage to avenge the memory of their ’2016′ defeat to France?

The list of officially-registered bids to host UEFA Euro 2020 can be seen below:

UEFA Euro 2020 – Hosting Bids:
Shown by bidding nation (and trigramme), date of registration, and previous UEFA Euro Tournaments Bidded For

TURKEY [TUR] – 17/04/12

Previous Bids: ’08 (with GRE), ’12, ’16

SCOTLAND, WALES, & IRELAND [SCO/WAL/IRL] – 15/05/12

Previous Bids: ’08 (SCO/IRL), ’16 (SCO/WAL, abandoned), ’16 (IRL, abandoned)

GEORGIA [GEO] – 15/05/12

Previous Bids: None

UEFA Euro 2020 – Rumoured Bids (Now Ineligible):
Bidders (reason for withdrawal)

AZERBAIJAN & GEORGIA (Azerbaijan withdrew to focus on 2020 Olympic Games bid (for city of Baku), Georgia now enter as solo bidder)
BELGIUM (no specific reason)
GERMANY (want other countries to have major hosting opportunity)
HOLLAND (do not want to challenge ‘favourites’ Turkey, planning bid for 2024)
ROMANIA & BULGARIA (do not want to challenge ‘better placed’ candidate Turkey, other tournaments awarded (Bulgaria), planning joint bid for 2028)
ROMANIA & HUNGARY (no specific reason)
SERBIA, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, & CROATIA (no specific reason)

Universidad de Chile dramatically reached the quarter-final stage of the Copa Libertadores last week, as they overcame a 3-goal first-leg defecit to finish with the same margin but in reverse, completing a fairly staggering turnaround in the scoreline.

Trailing 4-1 from the first leg to their Ecuadorian opponents Deportivo Quito in the round of 16, Chilean club ‘The U’ began a 90-minute fightback, as first-half goals from Fernandes (20′, 27′), and Diaz (35′) leveled the aggregate scoreline, while second-half efforts from Mena (56′), and Henriquez (70′, 73′) put them in a lead and then a commanding position to cap a 7-4 overall win (two-legged fixtures in the Copa Libertadores are first decided by ‘points’, and then goal difference (followed by other factors)). For their grand efforts, Universidad de Chile now play Paraguayan club Libertad in the quarter-finals (the only one not to feature clubs from Brazil or Argentina) over the next 9 days, but will their next challenge produce as much drama?

Manchester City have become the 5th different club to get their hands on the Premier League trophy in the competition’s 20th season, after leaving it until the dying seconds to snatch it away from the possible grasp of major city rivals Manchester United.

Going into the final matchday in the knowledge that the same or better result than their 2nd-place rivals United (who were away to Sunderland) would guarantee them the title, City faced QPR, who themselves were after a good result (or other games to go their way) in order to avoid relegation.

Following a very strong attacking display, the news that the defending champions had scored at the Stadium of Light (from Wayne Rooney) spurred on City even more, and they found their breakthrough from Pablo Zabaleta, who saw his shot palmed up into the air by Paddy Kenny, but looped back down over the goalline for his first goal of the season (39′). This lead would last to half-time, but not much further, as a mistake by Joleon Lescott let in Djibril Cisse for a surprise equaliser for the visitors (48′). This was followed by further drama as Joey Barton was sent off for an off-the-ball elbow (before probably committing at least 3 or 4 red-card offences over the next minute), before the 10-man London side later initiated a counter-attack that ended with Jamie Mackie diving in with a header (66′) to give QPR an ideal lead, and Roberto Mancini’s City side around 24 minutes to turn it around in their favour, despite maintaining a huge majority of possession, attacking play, and chances.

However, mere minutes away from the title at the top of this page reading ‘choke’, City dramatically fought back, with Edin Dzeko’s header from a corner (90+2′) giving the team hope with around three minutes remaining, then after further attacking rushes in the midst of full-time blowing for Manchester United, Sergio Aguero found space to slip the ball in with virtually the last kick of the game (90+4′) and send the Etihad Stadium into raptures, in a moment which Sky Sports will probably be using near the business end of their ‘Premier League highlight reels’ for as long as they hold the rights.

While the result was also good news in the end for QPR fans (with Bolton’s failure to win meaning that they are relegated at QPR’s expense), it was mainly a time of celebration for the City faithful, as Vincent Kompany went up to lift the trophy, the 3rd top-flight title for the club (the others coming in 1936-37 and 1967-68), and their first in its Premier League guise, and by the narrowest of margins, winning by 8 goals on goal difference, a number which can also be attributed to the 6-1 win for them against Manchester United earlier in the season, a result which in addition to the win saw an 8-goal swing across both sides (4 goals onto a ‘minimum’ win of 2-1).

In other news around European club football yesterday, Celtic striker Gary Hooper has been gathering support for an England call-up after he scored all five in his club’s closing SPL game of the season against Hearts, Real Madrid won against RCD Mallorca in their final La Liga game of the season to break the 100 points mark (a new Spanish top-flight record), while Juventus saw off Atalanta 3-1 to ensure that they complete the Serie A season unbeaten, with the trophy lift a fitting send-off for modern legend of the club Alessandro Del Piero. However, England produced the most dramatic story of the day, and the most entertaining moment for most neutrals would probably have been to see the look on the Manchester United team’s faces when they found out through no fault of their own that they had been denied in the dying seconds…

Atletico Madrid claimed the UEFA Europa League trophy last week, following a 3-0 victory over Spanish rivals Athletic Bilbao in Bucharest (Romania).

With Falcao opening the scoring with a finesse shot (7′) and adding to it with a quick-footed effort inside the box (34′), Diego also put in a third late on (85′), and a lead that not even the attack-friendly Bilbao could recover from, meaning that Atletico Madrid have won the UEFA Europa League for the second time (in the competition’s third season), and Falcao himself wins the trophy and the competition’s top goalscorer award for the second season in a row (after scoring the winner in the 2010-11 final for FC Porto). While Athletic prepare to take on Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final next week, one of Atletico’s next big challenges will be the 2012 UEFA Super Cup, where they will play Bayern Munich or Chelsea in what will be the last final in the foreseeable future to be played in Fontvieille (Monaco). Will the Spanish club be able to claim another trophy at a rate of ‘two in three seasons’?

Domzale

Georgia are not too renowned across Europe for their international footballing achievements, but their U-17 national team may have provided one of their country’s most notable results, and while a win over a fellow mid-FIFA World Ranking nation such as Iceland may not be too much to get excited about in regular context, the fact that it sees them progress to at least the tournament’s Semi-Finals is an achievement that certainly won’t be overlooked when they return home from Slovenia.

Just needing to get a better result than 2nd-placed France in Group A (who played already-through Germany in Ljubljana), the match in Domzale could have seen either or neither team progress, but it was Georgia (who had more chances through the match) who took a win late on with a close-range goal from substitute Dato Dartsimelia (73′), in part of an end-to-end frenzy as a result of the news that Germany had a quick-fire 3-0 lead (which would be retained) from early in the second half.

The result means that Georgia progress to a Semi-Final on Sunday against Holland (tournament holders and narrow Group B winners) in Ljubjana, while Germany meet Poland in the capital city earlier that day. The end of the Group Stage also ensures the elimination of France, Iceland, Belgium, and hosts Slovenia, from the 8-team tournament.

With a place in the Final in Ljubjana on Wednesday at stake, will Georgia’s class of 2012 be able to add another big name to the list of those fallen in their wake?

Johannesburg

Last week saw the host cities of the 2013 African Cup of Nations finally announced after several delays, with half of the stadiums used during the 2010 FIFA World Cup being used here, for a tournament that will run between 19 January – 10 February.

The 1996 hosts, who after replacing Libya as 2013 hosts have made no less than 4 delays to their announcement of the stadiums, seem to have wanted time to get their list right, with all 10 2010 FIFA World Cup venues bidding for inclusion to this tournament.

In the end, it appears that the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg was in little doubt as to its inclusion, though it will only be used for the Opening Match and Final of the 2013 tournament. Also set to be used are stadiums in Durban, Port Elizabeth, Rustenburg, and Nelspruit, as high-profile exclusions include Cape Town, Pretoria, and Polokwane.

However, Cape Town and Polokwane (along with Bloemfontein and Kimberley) will have some continental hosting action lined up, as the ‘B’ international tournament of Africa, the African Nations Championship, will be hosted by South Africa in 2014.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s minister of sport and recreation Fikile Mbalula said of the 2013 decision: “Rather than using the whole of the republic we have reduced to a total number of about four, five stadiums so that they are close to each other. On relieving the financial burden for host cities, there’s a joint task team [from the South African government]… which will meet with the host cities individually to allay fears.”

The next major organisational aspect in the tournament’s running will be the official draw on 26 October, by which point 15 nations will have completed the line-up of qualified teams joining South Africa, a process which is set to continue next month including 2012 winners Zambia. Who will be present at the finals early next year?

The host cities and stadiums in full can be seen below:

2013 African Cup Of Nations: Host Cities
City – Stadium – Capacity

SOUTH AFRICA:
Johannesburg – Soccer City – 94,700
Durban – Moses Mabhida Stadium – 54,000
Port Elizabeth – Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium – 48,000
Rustenburg – Royal Bafokeng Stadium – 42,000
Nelspruit – Mbombela Stadium – 41,000

The Chagos Islands have seen off Sealand in an international friendly this weekend played in Farncombe (England), as they continue their possible (and currently uncertain) preparations for the 2012 VIVA World Cup in Iraqi Kurdistan.

In what was the second international fixture for each of these sides (Chagos Islands had previously played in 2011 against Raetia (a 6-1 win in Crawley (England)), while Sealand held Aaland Islands to a 2-2 away draw in 2004), it was Chagos Islands, playing in a kit which seemed slightly more fitting in the 1990′s, who took the lead in this slightly ‘different’ international fixture with a sliding tap-in from Miguel Mandarin (36′), followed by a one-on-one finish from Jean GN Movtei (44′).

After the break, it was Sealand, who’s player recruitment methods can be considered unorthodox (handing Sealandic passports to chosen players during the weeks before the match), found a way back into the match fairly quickly when Ryan Moore looped in a rebounded header (47′), and while they had chances to equalise, it was the slightly more dominant Chagossians who took the winner, when Jonny Edmond scored with a quick strike from an angle (81′).

The result and the game itself was taken in good spirits by both sides in front of the 250+-strong crowd, and while organisational development in football seems to be something that both nations are aspiring to, they are looking to continue on the right path, with both nations set to continue with regular action, and plans to play eachother in England again on a possible annual basis.

In other Non-FIFA news from this weekend, the 2012 Muratti Vase (an annual international tournament in the Channel Islands) was won by Guernsey over host nation Jersey 2-0 at the Springfield in St Helier. The next major activity in lesser-recognised international football is the 2012 VIVA World Cup, but which entrant will take the overall glory there? If the Chagos Islands play, then they would head to the tournament defending a 100% record throughout their international footballing history…