Thursday, May 22, 2008

Manchester United are CHAMPIONS of EUROPE and ENGLAND!

Its been a long 9 years of wait. A very very long wait! Finally, Manchester United are Champions of Europe once again. We had to beat Chelsea in order to win the European Cup and we did. We really did it! Chelsea stood in our way and after such an exciting match that lived up to its' hype, Manchester United finally made it. This was a match that I could never ever miss, I had to watch it by hook or by crook and I never regret watching it!

The moment I saw the team sheet put out against Chelsea, I was shocked. Extremely shocked. I had loads of questions about it. Why isn't Park Ji-Sung included in the squad? Why is Hargreaves on the right of midfield? Why is Giggs on the bench when this was such an important game? But I knew I had to put my faith in Sir Alex Ferguson's selection, I had to trust Manchester United. I could never have been more nervous than this. There I sat, on the sofa, with my cousin, Jonathan, eagerly waiting for the biggest game to start.

Manchester United were dominating Chelsea and it eased my worries slightly, hoping they would grab an early goal and put Chelsea under intense pressure. In the 26 minute, my prayers were answered, Cristiano Ronaldo scored! Thanks to a perfect one-two by Pual Scholes and Wes Brown. The latter's cross was beautiful, so beautiful that I was strucked in awe of it. The ball found Ronaldo, who rose and planted a firm header into the back of the net, passed Petr Cech. Jon and I jumped! We were glad that Man United are in the lead! But our happiness was to be short-lived.

My heart was thumping at extreme speed, but it skipped a beat in the 33rd minute when Ferdinand almost scored an own goal (under pressure from Ballack), but fortunately, Van der Sar managed to pump the ball into the air. Manchester United continued to dominate the game and could have been 3-0 up in half-time if not for two wasteful clear-cut chances! The first, was in the 35th minute. Rooney pumped a superb long ball to Ronaldo, who delievered a low cross for Tevez to hit it with a diving header, it could have been a goal, but Cech was there to block it. The loose ball fell to the path of Carrick,who gave a beautiful shot on goal, but Cech, again, was up to the task! The next one came in the 42nd minute, when Rooney delievered a low cross for Tevez to slide in, but it was not meant to be, the ball was an inch too far! In the 45th minute, my greatest fear came true, Chelsea scored the equaliser. I was devastated, rooted to the spot, with my mouth wide open, totally stunned! But I was still hopeful that Man United would win it in the end! BELIEVE was the word that filled every Manchester United staunch supporter! We always believe that our religion - Manchester United, would never ever let us down!

Chelsea were in total control in the 2nd half and forced Manchester United into defensive mode. They had fantastic chances, but just couldn't get the ball into the back of the United's net! Then, in the 77th minute, I almost had a heart attack! Drogba, who was neutalise by Vidic for most part of the game, suddenly burst into life and sent the ball towards' Van der Sar's goal, but thankfully, it hit the woodwork! The score remained 1-1 and the match went into Extra time. Within 3 minutes of the restart, I almost had another heart-attack! This time, it was Lampard who delievered a piledriver shot towards United's goal, but yet again, the woodwork saved Manchester United as we continued to ride our luck. Chelsea had hit the woodwork twice, and I was quietly confident, that it wasn't going to be Chelsea's day. Then came the 100th minute, Evra made a sudden burst of energy, got passed Makelele and Essien and sent a short, accurate pass to the path of Giggs. He gave it a nice shot towards the open goal of Chelsea's, but Terry was there to head the ball to safety! I rued all of Manchester United's missed chances! Drogba's sending off towards the end of the extra time should have came sooner, but it was fated that the match went into penalties as it ended 1-1!

Penalties was the time when my heart was in my mouth! Jon and I were walking up and down the living room, extremely nervous, we just couldn't stand still. United scored 2 through Tevez and Carrick and Chelsea were equal to the task! Ronaldo was the 3rd Manchester United penalty taker, and he nearly cost us the title. He missed his shot!!!! We were shocked, shell shocked! How could have missed it! My heart was thumping faster and faster and I just couldn't bear to watch it anymore! When it was Terry's turn to take the penalty kick for Chelsea, I couldn't take it, I kneeled down in front of the TV set, lowered my head, clenching my both fists, praying that Terry would miss his kick. It was until Jon shouted "Yes!" then I knew Terry really missed it! Both Chelsea and United are level and I continued kneeling! Anderson and Giggs both converted their penalties for Manchester United.

Anelka was next to take the penalty kick for Chelsea, I did the same thing, kneeled, lowered my head and started praying! I just couldn't bear to watch it. Then, Jon hugged me from behind! I knew immediately that Anelka missed it! Van der Sar saved it! Manchester United have won the European Cup! I stood up, gave Jon a big hug and we were jumping up and down like a lunatic, celebrating ecstatically! I was on cloud nine, my eyes were filled with tears of joy as I pumped both my fist into the air, in a truimphant mood! We have finally won the European Cup after 9 long years of wait! I loved that feeling, I simply loved it! I said before that Manchester United would win the double being Champions of Europe and England, they really did it! OMG... I'm sooooooo damn happy!

I Love You, Manchester United! This is the happiest day of my life! Thank You SO Much to the players and most importantly to the special one, Sir Alex Ferguson! I've never regretted supporting Manchester United and I never will. Because, like what I said, I Live, I Breathe and I Bleed Manchester United and that will always be the case!

I Love You SOOOOOOO Much, Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson!

P/S: Happy Birthday to my bestie, JCWS!

i revived @ 11:52 PM