2008 UEFA Champions League Final
The 2008 UEFA Champions League Final was a match to be remembered. It was held on Wednesday, 21 May 2008. The match was played in the Luzhniki Stadium, in Moscow, Russia. It was Manchester United vs. Chelsea; both teams are from the F.A English Premier League. Manchester United is from Manchester, and Chelsea is from London. Both teams showed excellent performance during the whole tournament.
Manchester United started the kick off in the first half. Chelsea did a great job putting hard pressure on the players and an excellent job in the defending. The possession during the first half was fifty five % for Manchester United and forty five % for Chelsea. Forty five minutes were over and both teams were given twenty minutes break.
Chelsea started the second half and Manchester United scored late in the second half. The whole crowd was cheering for The Red Devils and I was jumping from my seat in extreme happiness. But only after about twelve minutes, Chelsea scored an equalizing goal that tied the score to 1-1. This was the ecstatic moment for the London men. There was non-stop cheering and it was more like an extreme roller coaster ride.
They were given extra time because the score was tied 1-1 and we had to have only one winner. Both of the extra time halves didn’t change a digit on the score board. Now, it all came down to Penalty shootouts. I was sitting on the edge of my seat thrilled. Manchester United player Carlos Teves took the first kick and scored. Michael Balack was the first in Chelsea’s penalty line up. He shot the ball and it swung in the upper right corner and went in. Edwin Van Der Sar, Manchester United’s goalkeeper, almost caught it but it went too fast. M. Carrick took the next one and scored. Belletti from Chelsea evened the score by an amazing right swinging paced shot. Then, it was the star striker, Cristiano Ronaldo, from Manchester. He took a long run, stopped before shooting and then shot with tremendous power, but unfortunately Chelsea’s star keeper, Peter Check, saved the shot by diving with a sharp timing that he made a finger tip save and the ball went out. It was a crying moment for me, for the players, and for all of the Manchester fans.
Chelsea’s top scorer, Frank Lampard, made the score 3-2 by scoring an amazing penalty kick. English striker Owen Hargreaves tied it 3-3. Chelsea scored again making it 4-3. The Red Devils tied it again. Then the Chelsea’s defender and captain missed the shot far left and began crying. This was not a very good moment for the London people. Manchester scored the leading goal making it 5-4. Kalou scored an equalizing goal tying it 5-5. Manchester’s midfielder, Ryan Giggs, scored another goal for Manchester, and now the score was 6-5. If Chelsea missed this penalty, they lose. Campbell took the shot, and to my great surprise, Edwin Van Der Sar dived left to where he shot and caught the ball in his arms. Manchester United had won UEFA Champions League 2008. I think that this match was the best match in the history of soccer.
