In our 13th profile of 15 world soccer teams, we turn our attention to the French soccer power Olympique Lyonnais, which is known simply as Lyon, the same name as the city they play for.
Lyon did not win its first domestic title until the 2001-02 season, but they made up for it by winning a staggering seven French premiere league titles in a row.
During the 2009-10 season, Lyon also reached the semi-finals of the coveted UEFA Cup, before bowing out to German power Bayern Munich.
Lyon is playing for the current UEFA Cup as well, but their hopes of advancing to the next round seem given their home loss Spanish power Real Madrid 2-0, both goals in the match were scored by Portuguese superstar Christiano Ronaldo, earlier this month.
Thus, Lyon is in third place behind the Dutch team Ajax Amsterdam (the last team we profiled), in Group D. Lyon visits Amsterdam on Nov. 22 when Real Madrid will face the Crotian team Dynamo Zagreb, which is in last place.
In domestic play, Lyon last played arch rival St. Etienne and the team prevailed
2-0. Lyon is reportedly in second place in the French league behind Paris St. Germain which tied Bordeaux 1-1.
The captain for Lyon is Brazilian player Cris (Cristiano Gomes), 34, and the team's goalie is French player Hugo Lloris, 24, (pictured), who is vying to become the French national goal keeper.
On Friday, the French national team beat the United States 1-0 in a friendly. Since I carry an American passport, I could gripe about this, but hey the French gave us Asterix the Gaul. Having said that, I hope we beat the living daylights out of them next time (that is a joke; I'm not a Republican).
SIDEBAR: Closer to home, Martinsburg High School (Martinsburg, West Virginia) decked Woodrow Wilson High School from Beckley, West Virginia, in a home game played on Friday by a score of 49-13.
PS-The answer to our Rabbitt Ears quiz was C) Boulder, Colorado, which is where "Mork and Mindy" took place.
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