Moscow, 21st May, 2008: On a long and wet night inside the Luzhniki Stadium, Edwin Van Der Sar made himself big enough to save a Nicholas Anelka penalty. 3000 miles away, a gathering of about a hundred Reds erupted in madness. ‘Bedlam is what followed.’ Tears, joy and ecstasy. ‘Football – Bloody hell!’
The 2007-2008 season began with a no-show: a 0-0 draw against Reading at home followed by a 1-1 draw at Portsmouth. United had won the title after 4 years the previous season by a fairly good margin. Add to that, the signings of 4 more players – Carlos Tevez, Nani, Anderson and Owen ‘I’d-let-you-shag-my-wife’ Hargreaves. I was particularly keen on United signing Hargo. I watched him run from box-to-box, apparently the only English player wanting to win, in the England v/s Portugal World Cup QF. He’s a no-nonsense, orthodox footballer, sort of some Mr. Steel in the middle of the park, something we wanted since Keane departed. The season after the World Cup, United tried to sign him but Bayern wouldn’t let go. If Owen Hargreaves was famous and wanted, I knew little about Nani and Anderson. They introduced themselves in the course of the season that followed and how! Tevez was almost an established Premiere League player. He had scored for West Ham against United at Old Trafford in their last match of the previous season to avoid relegation.
As the season progressed, United hit top gear and gave themselves a formidable chance of winning a second title in two years. The squad was terrific, the injuries didn’t really bothered, or atleast it seemed (easy to say in retrospect). United also did a memorable Double over the Scouse bastards. The only blemish on an otherwise great campaign was that Citeh did the Double over United. On the final day of the season, United were locked on equal points with Chelsea, who had fired Mourinho at the start of the season and appointed a certain Toad-faced manger called Avram Grant. To be fair to him, he did a good job at Chelsea, even transforming a ‘11-men-behind-the-ball’ Chelsea to a more attacking one. United traveled to Wigan for the one last match that remained. United had to equal or better Chelsea’s result and they would be crowned Champions of England for the 17th time. And they bettered Chelsea’s result of a 1-1 draw. Ronaldo scored his 41st goal of the season from the spot and Giggsy scored another vintage goal. Champions of England! I remember shouting “Champions…Champions” and then proceeding to take off my shirt to sing “Champione…ole ole ole” much to the tut-tut ting of my parents who obviously thought that I, immersed in my books, would have been a less disappointing scenario. United missed out on the FA Cup though, losing narrowly to Portsmouth at OT where an incorrect decision from the referee sent United out of the Cup and from the Treble potentialities.
On the European front, United showed impeccable class. They remained unbeaten and were now in the final of the European Cup, for the third time in their history, 9 years after Barcelona and 40 after Wembley. It was also the 50th anniversary of the Munich tragedy. Their opponents were Chelsea, again. The two of them made the first ever All-English final. It was one of my dreams to watch United lift the European Cup, and I realized I would probably live it. I couldn’t help imagining things – things like the European Cup in the hands of Ryan Giggs and Scholes and Gaz Neviller, things like Fergie parading it around, things like being there myself.
On 21st May, when United were going to play Chelsea in the final, me, my friends – Abhishek, Aalhad and Sancheet and my cousins – Animesh and Anukool went to the screening of the match hosted by the Manchester United Fan Club of Mumbai at Avon Ruby, Dadar, Mumbai. There were around a 100 people that night in that hall. There was some general banter and a good atmosphere, full of anticipation in the crowd. I don’t remember the exact time, but it was certainly past midnight.
United scored early with a brilliant move that involved Brown and Scholesy exchanging passes and Ronaldo to head home his 42nd goal from the resulting Brown cross. And as we still reeled from the celebrations, United stepped up. Another wonderful move which Rooney started from a cross-field ball to Ronaldo, who crossed to Tevez, on the counter resulted in a great save from the Chelsea keeper. The rebound fell to Carrick who shot on target but United were denied again. Few minutes later, Tevez had another chance to put the game beyond doubt but he couldn’t stretch his leg enough. But Chelsea suddenly equalized when an unlucky triple-deflection fell to Lampard to slot over VDS just before the interval.
In the second half, Chelsea were resurgent. They hit the woodwork through Drogba but couldn’t score. After 90 minutes, the teams remained at 1-1 and were forced into Extra Time in which Terry cleared a Giggs shot from the goal-line and Lampard hit the woodwork from a few yards out. The destination of the European Cup was going to be decided on penalties.
I don’t know about the others, but I was pretty confident that we would win it quite simply because United deserved it more than anyone else. They played brilliant football, were unbeaten in the competition, were the best team in the best league in the world and they had fate on their side. But all that comes crashing down when you see Ronaldo missing a penalty. As the commentator, it was probably Gray, said, “And suddenly, 42 goals don’t look so good.” Even when Ronaldo missed United’s third, I thought about the old United adage – ‘It’s never over till it’s over.’ Up stepped the Chelsea captain to take the fifth kick and win it for Chelsea and I kept repeating in my head that United - the fans, the players, the Boss - didn't deserve to lose out on United's Holy Grail after coming so near. Fate probably played its part when John Terry slipped and missed. As our nerves frayed and the heads throbbed and the throats parched and the palms sweated, Big Edwin Van Der Sar saved from Anelka in Sudden Death to win it for United.
The moments that followed are frozen in time. They are chiseled in my mind. On a long and wet night inside the Luzhniki Stadium, when Edwin Van Der Sar made himself big enough to save a Nicholas Anelka penalty, when 3000 miles away, a gathering of about a hundred Reds erupted in madness, I held my head in my hands. I felt happiness – glorious happiness, relief, numb, cold, calm and as the adrenalin pumped infinitely, I jumped up and beyond the chairs and hugged everyone in sight. I remember shouting ‘Europe! Europe!’ I remember Abhishek with a face struck with pleasing horror that came with the understanding of reality and Animesh laughing and shouting unintelligible words. ‘Bedlam is what followed.’ Tears, joy and ecstasy.
‘Football – Bloody hell!’
The 2007-2008 season began with a no-show: a 0-0 draw against Reading at home followed by a 1-1 draw at Portsmouth. United had won the title after 4 years the previous season by a fairly good margin. Add to that, the signings of 4 more players – Carlos Tevez, Nani, Anderson and Owen ‘I’d-let-you-shag-my-wife’ Hargreaves. I was particularly keen on United signing Hargo. I watched him run from box-to-box, apparently the only English player wanting to win, in the England v/s Portugal World Cup QF. He’s a no-nonsense, orthodox footballer, sort of some Mr. Steel in the middle of the park, something we wanted since Keane departed. The season after the World Cup, United tried to sign him but Bayern wouldn’t let go. If Owen Hargreaves was famous and wanted, I knew little about Nani and Anderson. They introduced themselves in the course of the season that followed and how! Tevez was almost an established Premiere League player. He had scored for West Ham against United at Old Trafford in their last match of the previous season to avoid relegation.
As the season progressed, United hit top gear and gave themselves a formidable chance of winning a second title in two years. The squad was terrific, the injuries didn’t really bothered, or atleast it seemed (easy to say in retrospect). United also did a memorable Double over the Scouse bastards. The only blemish on an otherwise great campaign was that Citeh did the Double over United. On the final day of the season, United were locked on equal points with Chelsea, who had fired Mourinho at the start of the season and appointed a certain Toad-faced manger called Avram Grant. To be fair to him, he did a good job at Chelsea, even transforming a ‘11-men-behind-the-ball’ Chelsea to a more attacking one. United traveled to Wigan for the one last match that remained. United had to equal or better Chelsea’s result and they would be crowned Champions of England for the 17th time. And they bettered Chelsea’s result of a 1-1 draw. Ronaldo scored his 41st goal of the season from the spot and Giggsy scored another vintage goal. Champions of England! I remember shouting “Champions…Champions” and then proceeding to take off my shirt to sing “Champione…ole ole ole” much to the tut-tut ting of my parents who obviously thought that I, immersed in my books, would have been a less disappointing scenario. United missed out on the FA Cup though, losing narrowly to Portsmouth at OT where an incorrect decision from the referee sent United out of the Cup and from the Treble potentialities.
On the European front, United showed impeccable class. They remained unbeaten and were now in the final of the European Cup, for the third time in their history, 9 years after Barcelona and 40 after Wembley. It was also the 50th anniversary of the Munich tragedy. Their opponents were Chelsea, again. The two of them made the first ever All-English final. It was one of my dreams to watch United lift the European Cup, and I realized I would probably live it. I couldn’t help imagining things – things like the European Cup in the hands of Ryan Giggs and Scholes and Gaz Neviller, things like Fergie parading it around, things like being there myself.
On 21st May, when United were going to play Chelsea in the final, me, my friends – Abhishek, Aalhad and Sancheet and my cousins – Animesh and Anukool went to the screening of the match hosted by the Manchester United Fan Club of Mumbai at Avon Ruby, Dadar, Mumbai. There were around a 100 people that night in that hall. There was some general banter and a good atmosphere, full of anticipation in the crowd. I don’t remember the exact time, but it was certainly past midnight.
United scored early with a brilliant move that involved Brown and Scholesy exchanging passes and Ronaldo to head home his 42nd goal from the resulting Brown cross. And as we still reeled from the celebrations, United stepped up. Another wonderful move which Rooney started from a cross-field ball to Ronaldo, who crossed to Tevez, on the counter resulted in a great save from the Chelsea keeper. The rebound fell to Carrick who shot on target but United were denied again. Few minutes later, Tevez had another chance to put the game beyond doubt but he couldn’t stretch his leg enough. But Chelsea suddenly equalized when an unlucky triple-deflection fell to Lampard to slot over VDS just before the interval.
In the second half, Chelsea were resurgent. They hit the woodwork through Drogba but couldn’t score. After 90 minutes, the teams remained at 1-1 and were forced into Extra Time in which Terry cleared a Giggs shot from the goal-line and Lampard hit the woodwork from a few yards out. The destination of the European Cup was going to be decided on penalties.
I don’t know about the others, but I was pretty confident that we would win it quite simply because United deserved it more than anyone else. They played brilliant football, were unbeaten in the competition, were the best team in the best league in the world and they had fate on their side. But all that comes crashing down when you see Ronaldo missing a penalty. As the commentator, it was probably Gray, said, “And suddenly, 42 goals don’t look so good.” Even when Ronaldo missed United’s third, I thought about the old United adage – ‘It’s never over till it’s over.’ Up stepped the Chelsea captain to take the fifth kick and win it for Chelsea and I kept repeating in my head that United - the fans, the players, the Boss - didn't deserve to lose out on United's Holy Grail after coming so near. Fate probably played its part when John Terry slipped and missed. As our nerves frayed and the heads throbbed and the throats parched and the palms sweated, Big Edwin Van Der Sar saved from Anelka in Sudden Death to win it for United.
The moments that followed are frozen in time. They are chiseled in my mind. On a long and wet night inside the Luzhniki Stadium, when Edwin Van Der Sar made himself big enough to save a Nicholas Anelka penalty, when 3000 miles away, a gathering of about a hundred Reds erupted in madness, I held my head in my hands. I felt happiness – glorious happiness, relief, numb, cold, calm and as the adrenalin pumped infinitely, I jumped up and beyond the chairs and hugged everyone in sight. I remember shouting ‘Europe! Europe!’ I remember Abhishek with a face struck with pleasing horror that came with the understanding of reality and Animesh laughing and shouting unintelligible words. ‘Bedlam is what followed.’ Tears, joy and ecstasy.
‘Football – Bloody hell!’
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