This Match Is Why Orange Balls Were Invented

Snow is great — you get to stay home from school, build snowmen and throw snowballs at each other (or so I’m told; I grew up in Texas where we didn’t get snow.) Snow also can make for great television, like for Panathinaikos vs Lamia in the Greek Cup on Thursday. 

The match was played in a driving snowfall. Groundskeepers had to use snow blowers to mark the lines on the pitch and, of course, the players used an orange ball. This match was the very reason every league has orange balls; a white ball just would not have cut it.

Lamia pulled out a 4-1 win over Panathinaikos, scoring some nice goals along the way. Fun fact: In Greek mythology, Lamia is a child-eating daemon.

Of course, the match wasn’t exactly fair — Lamia wore all white and was hard to see in the snow. At least, that’s the excuse I would make if I were Panathinaikos, considering how poorly the club has performed this season. The Athenians are in 11th place in the Greek Superleague after finishing third last season. 

The second leg of the Panathinaikos vs Lamia third-round tie will be Jan. 9.