Hail, United 2.0

The Stoke versus Manchester United Capital One Cup quarterfinal match on Wednesday had a little weather excitement when torrential hail littered the pitch around the 30^th minute, forcing both teams to the dressing rooms.

I wrote a little about this shortly after the delay happened, but I bring it up again only so I can post this cool Action Images photo of United’s Danny Welbeck driving through a couple of Stoke defenders while everyone was being peppered in the puss by freezing, screaming hail.

-- hail --

Hail, United!

The weather outside is frightful at Britannia Stadium where homestanding Stoke is hosting Manchester United in a Capital One Cup quarterfinal match.

At around the 30^th minute, the teams were forced off the field by a driving hailstorm. 

Play resumed moments later, and the game is now at halftime with neither teams having netted a goal.

Update: Weather was a non-factor following the 9-minute, 47-second hail delay in the first half. Manchester United tallied two second-half goals for the 2-0 win.

-- hail --

No one is making it rain in Manchester

If you're stuck in the office today, like me, keeping track of the Manchester United vs. Real Madrid Champions League match today on your computer and wondering to yourself, "Hmmmm, is weather playing factor at Old Trafford today? Will Renaldo slip and fall on his arse?"

These are good questions to ask because for about month, it seemed like every time I tuned the TV to a Premier League match, snow or rain, or both, were falling from the sky and soaking the pitch. So it's reasonable to think there's a good chance of precipitation for today's match.

In reality, however, there's only a six percent chance of rain according to the Manchester weather forecast, with temperatures dipping to about 44.

#gounited

Man U Gotta Love Soccer in the Rain

Turkish champion Besiktas is facing Manchester United Wednesday night in the Champion’s League group B match at Old Trafford. In the photo above, Besiktas players are seen practicing in the pouring rain. There’s only a 20 percent chance of rain when the two teams meet Wednesday night, but it will be cold. The wind chill is projected at 33 degrees. If you go to the game, send me a photo and I’ll post it on The Rainout Blog. The e-mail address is rainoutblog@gmail.com.

Now Back To The Not-So-Cozy Weather

Two English Premier League matches were played in snow on Sunday. The photo above shows Manchester United playing at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium as the white stuff falls to the pitch. ManU, the EPL leaders, played Middlebrough to a 2-2 tie. Here’s a shot from Goodison Park in Liverpool as Everton battles Derby. Everton blanked Derby 1-love. No wait. This is soccer, not tennis. That score should read 1-nill, right? I’m always confused when it comes to scoring. Just ask my… never mind.

Busby Babes Remembered

I like to keep things light here on The Rainout Blog, but it should be mentioned that Wednesday marks the 50th anniversary of the plane crash that killed 23 of the 44 passengers aboard British European Airways Flight 609 on Feb. 6, 1958. The Manchester United football team along with supporters and journalists were aboard the plane when it crashed on its third attempt to take off a slush-covered runway at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany.

Numerous newspapers are running stories this week – here's one – to remember the tragedy in which eight Man U players lost their lives, as did eight sports journalists who covered the team and, through their writings, brought to life the matches for their readers.

Slacker Update

To all my loyal international readers, I apologize for being a slacker and not making many posts over the past month. It is, you know, the holiday season, and that's always a busy time.

There have been plenty of football games with rain and some with snow and ice. (Did you hear the Packers had fans shoveling snow at Lambeau Field last week? That would have been a perfect post for this blog. Oh, well.)

I didn't fell like posting photos of soggy football games just to update the blog. However, that's sort of what I'm doing today. In fact, that's exactly what I'm doing today.

The above photo is of the other football – we call it soccer here in the States – and it features Wayne Rooney of Manchester United during an EPL game with Derby County at Old Trafford Saturday. ManU won 4-0.

I promise to chime back in later with more sports/weather news. Good night, Dubai.

Milan Blanks United in Rain-Soaked Champions League Match

Alberto Gilardino and Clarence Seedorf each scored goals to propel Milan to a 3-nill win over Manchester United Wednesday in the Champions League semi-final match being played at at Milan's San Siro Stadium. AFP PHOTO / ALBERTO PIZZOLI (Photo credit should read ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images)


Kaka celebrates after scoring Milan's first goal against Manchester United.