The pride felt by Georgia in staging next week's UEFA Super Cup between FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC is portrayed in the latest UEFA•direct, which is out now.
A preview from a Georgian viewpoint of this month's UEFA Super Cup – to be staged in the country's capital Tbilisi – takes pride of place in the latest edition of UEFA•direct.
On 11 August, the crossroads of Europe and Asia will greet the winners of last season's UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League respectively, FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC, for an eagerly awaited all-Spanish affair. Tata Burduli of the Georgian Football Federation (GFF) gives us an insight into the anticipation felt by the hosts.
"The organisation of an event such as the UEFA Super Cup would have been unthinkable a few years ago," she writes, "but now, with the date almost on us, we are ready and looking forward to hosting the curtain-raiser to the new season."
The GFF has been a member of UEFA since 1992, and is a proud footballing nation that is making promising progress. "Since becoming independent," Tata Burduli says, "Georgian football has been learning to stand on its own two feet and, like the country as a whole, focusing on development and working tirelessly to help Georgia to prosper and gain international renown.
"Tbilisi is looking forward to welcoming visitors from all over the world to mark a very important day in the history of Georgian football which will symbolise success and victory, and show that we are worthy of our place in the European football family."
This summer marks a significant moment in European football history. Sixty years ago, on 21 June 1955, the nascent UEFA assumed the organisation of the first European club competition, which became the European Champion Clubs' Cup. UEFA•direct explains the pathway to that date, and the key role played by the eminent French newspaper, L'Equipe, in paving the way for the start of what has become an iconic competition.
"Football shares and cares" is the theme of UEFA President Michel Platini's editorial column highlighting the social responsibility role of UEFA and European football, which came vibrantly into focus at the recent UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League finals.
"The atmosphere in the stadiums in Berlin and Warsaw was electric," Mr Platini says. "I am so happy that we were able to share that experience at the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League finals with the hundreds of disadvantaged and vulnerable children who were able to be there thanks to an initiative of the UEFA Foundation for Children.
"The foundation has only been operating for a few weeks but it is already making a difference, and we truly hope that it can have a real impact on the lives of young people around the globe."
Maxi-pitches are of vast benefit to both local football and the community, and UEFA donates maxi-pitches to each host city of a UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League final. UEFA•direct visits Munich, and returns to the maxi-pitch UEFA handed over for the 2012 UEFA Champions League showpiece, examining the legacy that the donation leaves behind for grassroots football in particular.
"The goal of the maxi-pitches is to develop football at grassroots level and to enable more boys and girls to experience the passion and fun of football," UEFA•direct explains. "It also highlights UEFA's continued commitment to the foundations of the game, while also conveying the message that elite football can only thrive with a healthy base beneath it and that the game should be open to all players of all ages and abilities."
Both of the 2014/15 finals of UEFA's major club competitions were memorable affairs, and UEFA•direct looks back at the spectacular events in the UEFA Champions League final between Barcelona and Juventus in Berlin, as well as Warsaw's five-goal UEFA Europa League thriller featuring Sevilla and FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.
A dramatic UEFA Women's Champions League final in Berlin, won by 1. FFC Frankfurt against Paris St-Germain in added time, also comes under the spotlight on what was another successful evening for the women's game at the highest level.
France's triumph in the UEFA European Under-17 Championship final round is also given full coverage, along with a wealth of news from UEFA's member countries. UEFA•direct appears inEnglish, French and German, and is essential reading for anyone interested in UEFA's activities and competitions, and the sterling work undertaken by its 54 national associations.
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