Tonight, it was confirmed that the 2011 UEFA Europa League final – scheduled for 18th May 2011, with a 20:45 kick-off time – will be the eighth UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League final to be contested by two teams from one nation, with Portugal’s Sporting Braga and FC Porto due to contest this year’s deciding game. It promises to be an intriguing tie: underdogs (and arguable overachievers) Braga against an FC Porto side studded with South American gems such as Hulk, a full Brazil international, and his co-striker Radamel Falcao, an accomplished Colombian finisher who tops the 2010-2011 competition’s scoring charts; a Porto win would be particularly significant in giving further prominence to André Villas Boas, a dynamic and charismatic young coach in the mould of José Mourinho.
Yet what should be a celebratory occasion – not just for both clubs, but the Portuguese school of football – has a surreal backdrop: as reported in this blog on 4th May 2011, the government of Portugal has had to seek a €78bn ($116bn) rescue package, with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund stumping up the cash. Moreover, the final is being held in Ireland, a nation which is being redefined by its own financial crisis which has seen the former Celtic Tiger become a source of emigration: a record estimated 1,000 people departed the Republic of Ireland every week in 2010.
Will the stands at the Dublin Arena be full? Will many fans make the journey from Portugal? If so, will they slum it ten to a room in hostels, or worse, enter Ireland a couple of hours before kick-off and fly out straight after the final whistle? And will the atmosphere reflect the social reality in these two economies on the eurozone periphery?
Mediolana 