Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Its obvious that I'm a DIE-HARD Manchester United fan.. A Man United supporter through and through! A person whose life revolves around football, and football, is Manchester United.. Once a Manchester United Fan, Always a Manchester United Fan! United were entertaining Barcelona at the Theatre of Dreams, knowing that a win, would take them through to the UEFA Champions League final after a 9 years wait.. Today, the wait is over, Manchester United are in the Finals of the Champions League!Manchester United VS FC Barcelona would always be a cagey affair, a mouth-watering clash between two European Giants.. A match that even neutral football fans would admire.. I was extremely nervous, crouching on my seat, biting my finger nails, eagerly waiting for the match to start.. In the back of my mind, I was thinking, "Would Manchester United make it to the Final?".. Because they have never made it after a 0-0 draw in the 1st Leg.. When the team was announced, I was even more worried, Manchester United were without Wayne Rooney and Nemanja Vidic.. Without two key players, I was thinking, "Shit! Gone Case!".. It was only the 1st minute when my heart skipped a beat, Scholes fouled Messi at the edge of the penalty box, it looked like a penalty to me! But it wasn't and I breathed a sigh of relief.. Fast forward to the 14th minute, Zambrotta's defensive error led to Scholes' scoring a stupendous goal for Manchester United.. I was jumping for joy, pointing at the TV set and shouted: "Baik (Good in Malay) lah, Man U".. I was hoping that goal would somehow settle the match.. It did, but I had to suffer mentally.. Barcelona pushed forward, creating waves after waves of attack.. They were threatening Man U's fragile lead.. With Van der Sar's shaky performance, I knew, it was going to be a hell of night..Messi was tormenting Manchester United's defence.. He was "on fire".. Whenever he touched the ball, I was fearful.. But fortunately enough, Van der Sar was magnificent in his shot stopping despite his bizarre handling and haywire clearences.. I was relieved that Man U were still leading came half time.. But I was hoping they would produce a breath-taking performance in the 2nd-half in search for the 2nd goal to kill the game off..The best chances fell to Nani and guessed what, he missed them all.. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, how could he ever miss those chances! He was running at Barca's players, managed to beat them, running towards the goal, he took a shot and it was wide of goal.. "What The Hell!" I screamed! I was praying that Sir Alex would take Nani off.. My prayers came true, because Nani was substituted soon enough..It was slightly more than 10 minutes before the final wistle.. But I was getting more and more anxious by the minute.. Barcelona was pressurizing Manchester United.. My heart was pumping faster and faster, my hand was in my mouth and I couldn't wait for the refree to blow the final wistle and end the match.. Barcelona were creating chances after chances, but United held on firmly.. I was shouting "What the Fcuk" at every misplaced pass United made, I was sweating.. It was nearing the final wistle and if Barcelona were to snatched a late equaliser, it would be too hard a blow to bear.. When the refree blew the final wistle, I yelled "Yes!", pumping both of my fists in the air, jumping like a madman.. I was over the moon, my eyes were filled with tears of joy! Manchester United was triumphant! They are in the Final of the Champions League! The final score read, Manchester United 1 FC Barcelona 0..Whoever Manchester United face in the Champions League Final, we don't bloody care! Just bring them on! Like what Sir Alex always says, "Go for their bloody throats".. Manchester United will do just that.. They'll go for the bloody throats of either Chelsea or Liverpool.. I would love it, simply love it if Manchester United wins the EPL Championship and the European Cup.. Believe me, Manchester United will win the double!
