UEFA Euro 2016 Group B
Stade de Nice
Sweden 0-1 Belgium
Attendance: 34,011
My French adventure came to it's conclusion on the Cote d'azur with a visit to the brand new home of Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice. After waking up, and opening my window, to stunning views of palm trees and the clean blue water of the Mediterranean Sea, it was a lazy afternoon, mostly drinking Belgian beer in a place called Belgian Attitude, before heading to the ground.
The ground, opened in 2013 and replacing the old Stade Municipal du Rayand, is eco-friendly, drawing more than three times its own energy requirements from more than 4,000 solar panels. The ground has its own geothermal installation for heating and rain water channelled from the roof is used to water the pitch.
To contradict this though, the best way of reaching the ground, which is 13 km outside the city centre, is by car as the train stop for the stadium is yet to be completed. Tonight's match is the penultimate game at this ground, with England v Iceland scheduled here for next Monday before it hosts Rhianna on her world tour on 15th July.
Belgium struggled to overcome Sweden, who at least managed some efforts on target in this game. The game was decided six minutes from time when Radja Nainggolan's stunning 25-yard strike secured Belgium's place in the last 16 of Euro 2016 and eliminated out Sweden. Fabrique Belgique as they say.
As well as being my last game at Euro 2016, it was also the last international game of Zlatan Ibrahimovic as he had announced that this tournament would be his Swedish swansong, no doubt I will be seeing him at Goodison Park next season after Manchester United sign (for) him!
That is my lot for 2015/16, the journey around France was a brilliant way to round off another season of groundhopping, even if the actual football was largely forgettable. Thanks to everyone involved, and indeed over the course of the past 11 months. Hopefully I will see you all soon. Enjoy your summer!
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| Goodbye, au revoir! |
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