Always Nice to See Manchester United Lose

I'm delighted to see that Manchester United were beaten 1-0 in the English League Cup (sponsored by somebody, I forget who) by Southend. Man U leads the Premiership; Southend is last in the next level, the so-called Championship, 43 places below Man U. Man U were defending League Cup winners; Southend had never before reached the quarterfinals until beating Man U. Man U fielded ten full internationals including England star Wayne Rooney and Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo. Southend's winning goal came on a free kick by an English guy who proclaims himself a big Man U fan.

One of the things I like about European soccer is the concurrent competitions. A team can win its division, fight to win promotion or avoid relegation, and compete in independent knock-out competitions like the FA Cup (open to ALL English teams) or the League Cup (for the 92 teams in the top 4 divisions of English soccer called the Football League). Not to mention that the top teams like Man U get to compete in European competitions.

Usually, the big dogs win. Teams like Man U, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Rangers (Glasgow) etc dominate their respective domestic competitions much more than any comparable American team. But occasionally the Southends of the world get a shot at a big team and pull off a win that Southend fans will be talking about 40 years from now.