Wednesday, March 08, 2006

It's a cruel, cruel game!



Champion's League always produces enthralling matches. And yesterday was no exception. Most of the eyes were fixed on the clash of the European giants, Chelsea and Barcelona. And, it lived upto the expectation. Another dazzling display and yet another goal from the World Footballer of the Year, Ronaldinho. The vengeance is complete. Chelsky are dumped out of the Champion's League. Yet another lesson of Roman Army that money can't buy everything.

But the game of the night was Juventus- Werder Bremen. It was a battle beween David and Goliath. And Werder Bremen almost triumphed. It was a heroic display, but finally Juve just edged ahead, by away goals rule, thanks to a horrendous mistake by German keepen Wiese. A cruel end to an almost fairytale. A heartbreak for Bremen who fought so hard to oust the Italian Champions.

Bremen were ahead by 3-2 from the first leg. Nobody gave them chance in Turin given the defensive prowess of Juventus. But they went ahead on thirteenth minute through a superb finish form France International Micoud. Another Frenchman, this time from the Italians, equalised. Juventus kept on pressing on the Werder goal, but the German backline stood firm. Werder keeper Wiese, who was playing just his second game in the Champoion's league, produced many stunning saves, keeping Germans in the game till 88th minute. And then that moment arrived. Wiese caught an innocuous cross from Nedved and somehow (yes, you can't explain such things in words!) he fumbled it. Emerson, who was returnig to his defensive position, bolted it to the back of the net. All the good work for two legs, undone in two seconds of insanity! It's really a cruel, cruel game! The Old Lady just scrambled through to the next round.

It reminded me of semi-final in last year's Champion's League. Another clash involving Italian giants. This time AC Milan. PSV Eindhoven fought hard throughout the match, but lost through a last minute strike from Rosaneri's. It's really amazing the way football brings out the emotions out of the people, how it gets intermingled with the life of the people. As the Fifa 2006 start says- " It's all about passion and commitments and loyalties and triumphs. It's not just a game, but a way of life!"

2 Comments:

At 11:42 am, Blogger aditya said...

hey u wrote chelskey...

 
At 4:01 pm, Blogger ninad said...

that's the name coined by Liverpool fans in last year's Champion's League semis, because of their russian connection. The banners said-"You can't buy history, Chelsky".

 

Post a Comment

<< Home