Lyon shy away from Miss Europe

Olympique Lyonnais are hoping that an encounter with the contenders in the Miss Europe beauty contest will not augur ill for their game against FC Dynamo Kyiv.

Beauty contest
In advance of their UEFA Champions League meeting with Dynamo, the French side have been sharing a hotel with some of the continent's most attractive women who are preparing for the Miss Europe final in Kiev on 27 October. However, the players insist that they are not being distracted from the task at hand.

'Nice people'
"We're in a nice hotel with some nice people," said French international left-back Eric Abidal diplomatically. "Coach [Gérard Houllier] has told us we are here to prepare for a game. It won't be easy. In my room there are paintings and a television. I don't venture into the corridors. My DVDs are safer."

French failing
The presence of attractive women has not always been a good omen for French teams in recent years. Some attributed France's disastrous attempted FIFA World Cup defence in 2002 to the presence of a troupe of female Bulgarian dancers at their hotel in Seoul. Lyon have also had unfortunate previous experience of beauty contest contenders. When they were knocked out of the 1999/00 UEFA Champions League in the third qualifying stage by NK Maribor, Miss Slovenia was in the stands.