Yesterday was supposed to be a special day for me. Not only for me, but for my sister and Dad especially: Marseille was playing in the Europa League fiinal against Atlético Madrid.
I already had my blog post (in French no less, it was going to be my first post in my native language, a testament to how excited I was), Facebook statuses and Instagram pics ready locked and loaded for the occasion.
But nooooo! Antoine Griezmann, the French Atletico Madrid forward decided otherwise. After losing a Champions League and Euro final, “Grizzou” said enough was enough. He scored twice and Marseille, along with a lot of people’s dreams, including ours, went down in flames 3-0.
Congratulations Antoine, after two huge heartbreaks, you finally have your first major European trophy. The cherry on the cake is that the final match was played in Lyon, in the stadium of a team that turned him down as a youth. You really can’t write this stuff.
That being said though, Antoine, I hope you don’t win the World Cup. I understand that you being from the Lyon region, getting rejected by their youth team, and ultimately triumphing on the grounds of that very team that turned you down, is a great revenge story. That’s awesome dude kudos to you.
However we, as the nation of Marseille, also deserved this win. Lifting the Europa League trophy in Lyon would’ve also been a cherry on the cake-sweet revenge story type of moment for us, perhaps even more than yours.
The reason it would have meant more for us to win is that we (Marseille), have to deal with Lyon the football team on a yearly / weekly basis, as we play in the same league. We have to deal with their president constantly poaching our players, and sending shots at us via Twitter…
But that’s not even the most important reason we deserved this win. Marseille deserved this win because we’ve been thirsting for a title since 1993. That’s 25 long years mate. Winning yesterday would have solidified Marseille’s status as the biggest French football club, because make no mistake; it is indeed the greatest club in France.
After being the only French club in history to win the Champions League, winning the Europa League would have put us over the edge. Made us historical. It is for all these reasons Antoine Griezmann that I hope you don’t win crap in Russia. You’re a great player though; I’m not a hater. Good season guys, I’m so happy for you all, you’ve given the city of Marseille and all your supporters worldwide so much pride and joy, and you will be okay no matter what happens.