The month starts with a bang for all rugby fans because the six nations is with us again. France and Ireland, both well fancied to win the recently played World Cup, start proceedings with a fantastic match up at the Orange Velodrome in Marseilles on Friday the 2nd. This is followed by Italy v England and Wales v Scotland on the 3rd and there are two more match days in February, with the tournament running right through until mid march.
The Africa cup of nations football tournament, which started in mid January, continues until the 11th and is being played in Ivory Coast. A lot of familiar faces from the European leagues will be playing and it promises to be a highly entertaining event.
The Champions League resumes in February with some fascinating clashes being played over two legs starting on the 13th. I don’t think you can call any game easy at this stage but the draw indicates that the favourites in the competition look like they have every chance to advance to the quarter finals.
The other major event that starts in February is the Formula One grand prix season. The multi billion pound circus is due to leave the grid in Bahrain on the 29th, it’s a leap year remember, with the race itself due off on the 2nd of March. It’s clear when you are out and about in Pattaya when a F1 race is on how popular the sport is with the expat community here and I’m sure they will be looking forward to the new season.
The Premier League continues looking more open at the top than it has for some time. A very interesting fixture comes up on the 4th of the month when Liverpool, who are heading the table at time of writing, travel to Arsenal, who lost a couple of fixtures over the Christmas period they were expected to win. They’ll want to re-establish themselves as genuine contenders and this match looks crucial for them. That’s about it for this month people, happy viewing.