Champion's League Final

[SirFozzie]

John Terry might as well off himself now.. we all know his eventual obit will start with "John Terry, whose missed PK cost Chelsea the 2007-08 Champions League Title..."

[Blade6119]

I love penalty kicks, just like i love the shootout. Its not the first resort, and rightfully so, but from a viewers standpoint its the ultimate entertainment. I could not imagine a better way to end a close game.

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by Blade6119

I love penalty kicks, just like i love the shootout. Its not the first resort, and rightfully so, but from a viewers standpoint its the ultimate entertainment. I could not imagine a better way to end a close game.

The problem with PK's is that the game then becomes all about who doesn't choke instead of who wins the game, with the success rate of the kicks being so high. Saves are generally all about guessing correctly instead of being skill based.

You end up having a scape goat instead of a hero. That's not really the best way to remember a game. Now Terry gets to forever relive this moment in his mind where he was center stage with the win all his for the taking and he slips.

At least in hockey the shot is much harder to make and takes skill into account on both sides so even in a shootout you end up remembering the goal and not the miss (see Forsberg).

[Neon_Chaos]

Great match. It was overly physical, and I loved every minute of it.

The Drogba red card was the only blemish... stupid chin slap from the Chelsea striker.

The penalty shootout was amazing. I thought that Ronaldo missing the penalty would surely lose it for Man U, then the Terry miscue and the Anelka miss made for great drama.

I think this is the first penalty shootout that Sir Alex has ever won, IIRC.

[BishopMVP]

Wow, ... I had money on Man U, but as soon as it went to PK's I told the kid I was betting against Ronaldo would choke (I did also think Anderson would choke too, but he drove it home dead center).

Thank god Terry slipped, because Van Der Saar was weak. The first what, 7 shots by Chelsea were to the same spot? (And, well not ironically, but the first shot left in the sequence was the one saved.)

Overall, as weird as it is playing a game that ends at 1am local time, the result was just. Two dead even teams.

[Critch]

[MIJB#19]

I loved penalty kicks, but only if my team isn't involved in them.

I love how this series went down, by the way: Cristiano Ronaldo missed and Edwin van der Sar still won. Win-win in my book.

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by Neon_Chaos

I think this is the first penalty shootout that Sir Alex has ever won, IIRC.

Heh, it's not even the first this season.

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

John Terry might as well off himself now.. we all know his eventual obit will start with "John Terry, whose missed PK cost Chelsea the 2007-08 Champions League Title..."

I highly doubt that. There are far too many soccer stars who once missed in a losing penalty kicks shootout and are not remembered for that. And Terry's wasn't even a real miss, it was a freak bad luck moment, he didn't choke like Ronaldo and Anelka did.

[flere-imsaho]

Good final - fun to watch, in my opinion. Man U should have been 3-1 up at half, but then Chelsea should have made it 3-3 by full time.

I thought Tevez looked like crap, but maybe he was doing a lot more off the ball that I wasn't seeing. I was therefore surprised that Ferguson took Rooney off instead of Tevez, especially as the game seemed likely for penalties from about minute 80 onwards.

Edit: Oh, and thank god for Tivo.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

I highly doubt that. There are far too many soccer stars who once missed in a losing penalty kicks shootout and are not remembered for that.

You mean like Baggio?

[Chief Rum]

To this day, I still remember that Web site that popped up after Becks missed his PK against Portugal at Euro 2004. You're Beckham on the screen, trying to kick the PK. The idea was that you could direct the kick, but in reality every kick went sky high over the goal. Pretty damn funny.

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by cartman

You mean like Baggio?

Touche, Roberto Baggio was also the first one that popped up in my memory. But after Marco van Basten came up, we quickly stopped discussing it. We would have ended up mentioning the entire lineup of Oranje's 1998 world cup squad. :o

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

Heh, it's not even the first this season.

Well, he says it's the first, apart for the annual Charity Shield.

hxxp://www.caughtoffside.com/tag/sir-alex-ferguson

Ferguson said: “We had a cause which was very important. People with causes are difficult to battle against and I think fate was playing its part. I feel very, very proud.”


He added: “We’re delighted. It’s my first victory in a penalty shootout apart from the Charity Shield. I’ve lost three with Aberdeen and three with United so this is seventh time lucky."


“The slip by (John) Terry gave us an opening and I thought we would win it then."


“We were fantastic in the first half but the goal gave them an impetus and they were the better team in the second half. But in extra-time I think we were the better team. It was tight and there were some fantastic moments.”

[Katon]

Originally Posted by cartman

You mean like Baggio?

Actually, the obvious parallel - central defender, team captain, almost missed the game due to injury, one of the main reasons the other team didn't win it before penalties - is Franco Baresi. Who is remembered for a bit more than just his '94 miss, especially in Italy. Hopefully Terry's career will follow the same path (especially if it means Chelsea being as successful as Baresi's Milan teams were).