Watching 90 minutes of a soccer game isn’t always on everybody’s list of priorities but I’ve found myself doing more and more of it lately.

And why not? There have been some great matches taking place recently and now UEFA Euro 2008 is heating up.

A couple of weeks back I watched the entire Champions League final between Chelsea and Manchester United and it was one of the best games I’ve ever watched.

There was so much going on leading up to the match that it seemed that it wouldn’t live up to its billing. It was the first all-English team final and it was between two heated rivals. Manchester United had just beaten Chelsea out of the Premier League championship by two points and Chelsea had waited for the opportunity to turn the tables on the Red Devils.

Cristiano Ronaldo put Man. U up 1-0 in the 26th minute as his squad dominated play during the first half. But Frank Lampard put home the equalizer in the 33rd minute to give his club some much needed traction heading into the second half.

Chelsea outplayed Man. U much of the second half but couldn’t finish its chances and the game went into overtime.

Lampard had a chance to score when his shot hit the underside of the crossbar. Then Manchester United had a great opportunity on an open net, but Chelsea captain John Terry made the play of the game when he redirected a Ryan Giggs shot with a header to keep the game tied.

In the second overtime a scuffle took place and Chelsea superstar Didier Drogba was ejected for slapping Man. U’s Nemanja Vidic in the face. Drogba’s career with Chelsea was fraught with controversy and it was a terrible way for him to end his career with the team. He is one of the most talented players in the world, but rises to the occasion when he feels like it. His ejection could have meant the game.

The game went to penalty kicks and Terry stood in with a chance to win the game, but as he went to strike the ball, his left foot slipped and he missed wide right. Man. U capitalized on the mistake in the sudden death round when Manchester’s goalkeeper saved Nicolas Anelka’s shot. To make matters even more interesting, Drogba was supposed to take the fifth penalty kick, the one that Terry missed.

This game reminded me of the greatness of watching soccer, especially when everything seems to be on the line. I can’t remember the last time I got chills watching a penalty kick contest, perhaps not since the World Cup and I think part of that has to do with the coverage of soccer.

Maybe I’m just noticing it now, but it seems like ESPN has done a better job of televising European soccer lately, either way I’m enjoying it quite a bit.

I’ve always followed soccer from a far, but never as closely as I have now. I’ve kind of come back to a sport that I grew up loving.

I played soccer throughout much of my youth and lost touch of it once I started working, but I have found myself taking up the sport again because of all the intrigue it possesses.

It is one of the only sports that has consistent contests with different nations and I think that’s part of my fascination with it as well.

The World Baseball Classic has just started but it is so new that you don’t have the rivalries like you do in, say, an France-Italy game in the World Cup.

With soccer you have the Champions League, Europe’s best club team, then the Euro, Europe’s best national team, and ultimately you have the World Cup. The Olympics compare but it’s difficult when so many events focus on the individual athlete.

Right now the Euro has piqued my interest. The Netherlands upset World Cup champion Italy Monday in the first match of group play, and Italy was dominated 3-0. World Cup runner-up France drew a 0-0 tie to Romania on Monday as well.

I don’t know what is going on exactly right now, but I am going to continue to watch to see what develops, it may just be a very exciting 90 minutes next time I tune in.