Having lived various places overseas, I've come to have a variety of favorite teams. I'm a big Liverpool fan, SC Freiburg (Germany) fan, and SC Internacional (Brazil). I also pull for FC Partizan (Serbia) and Juventus (Italy).

Why these teams?

Liverpool FC - In 1993 when I had my own apartment right out after college and had cable and was able to watch European soccer for the first time, I was looking for teams to follow. When me and my girlfriend broke up in early December, my "parting gift" was the then current Liverpool away jersey (jade green Adidas with the huge 3 stripe over the one shoulder). She already had a friend in a study-abroad semester in London buy a soccer jersey (no particular team) for my Christmas present, and since she had no other use or interest in it, I got it despite the break-up. So I paid more attention to Liverpool and was attracted by Steve McManaman (sp?) and Robbie Fowler and Ian Rush and decided Liverpool was my team. Despite flattering to deceive throughout much of the 90's, everything I learned about the club and its history kept me hooked to the point of no return. I've was fortunate to have made one trip to Liverpool taking in a league win and CL loss (ugly loss to Valencia, then coached by guess who? Rafa Benetiz), before moving to Brazil and becoming too poor for international travel.

SC Freiburg - Lived for 8 months in southern Germany on a short-term missions team, 1994/95. The nearest 1. Bundesliga team was in Freiburg and just 2 weeks after arriving in Germany this small, low-budget club in just their second season in the top flight recorded a historic 5-1 home defeat of big-bad Bayern München. That was enough for me. My choice became everlasting when they actually made a challenge for the Bundesliga title that year (eventually settling for 3rd, just 3 pts behind champs Bor. Dortmund) and when I hitch-hiked to Freiburg during the snowy Christmas holiday and loved the city. On two of numerous return trips to Germany I managed to swing thru Freiburg on game day and buy tickets on the street and stand on the terraces of Freiburg's Dreisam-Stadion.

SC Internacional - In anticipation of my trip to southern Brazil for my brother's wedding in 2003, I figured I should choose a favorite team from among the two huge cross-town rivals in Porto Alegre and become an informed fan. The choices: the Tri-Color (blue-black-white) of Grêmio (Ronaldinho's Brazilian club) or the red of Internacional (Pato's Brazilian club, and Dunga and Taffarel from the 94 WC champs, and back further Falcão). Between the similarities with the red-blue Liverpool-Everton inter-city rivalry and the fact that my brother's now in-laws were Inter fans, I went red. Being that I met my future wife on that trip and later moved to Brazil, I ended up having the joy of cheering on Inter from the standing terraces in their quarterfinal and semifinal home legs in their run to the Copa Libertadores title in 2006 (couldn't get tickets to the Final) and then watching their upset of Barcelona (and Grêmio-product Ronaldinho) in the final of the Club World Championship on a huge screen in the middle of Porto Alegre with thousands of other fans.

FC Partizan - During my 1-1/2 years volunteering in post-war Bosnia, I adopted the favorite team of my sports-crazy colleague: Partizan of Belgrade and cross-town rivals of perhaps the more know Red Star (European Cup finalists in 1993, last year before the war). It's was an interesting choice for a few reasons. (a) With the break-up of Yugoslavia, Partizan wasn't in the same country where I was serving (Bosnia), but there was virtually no professional "fudbal" going on in Bosnia at that time yet. (b) Me, a conservative; Partizan, a big "communist" club. And (c) I was working in the Croat-Muslim confederation half of divided-Bosnia in a city that had been ethnically cleansed by the Serbs before being liberated, and now was choosing a team from the Serbian part of former-Yugoslavia. At least Partizan wasn't the pet club of the new war-criminal regime (they choose a small borderline 1st division club and made them into a champions a few times before their ouster), but it is home to hateful ultra groups (not a problem unique to them or Serbia, for sure. Italy, anyone? But it's significance hits a bit closer to home given my experiences and relationship in Bosnia).

Juventus - Not a strong favorite with a any personal tie, but a favorite nonetheless. Just picked them to NOT go with the then favorite A.C. Milan who was taking ruling Europe in the early 90's with Dutch trio of Gullit, Van Basten, and Rijkaard. But what's not to like about the club of del Piero and before that Baggio, two of my favorite players of all-time.