Joyful finish

To quote ESPN play by play man Derek Rae:

“Liverpool
Have Won
the
Champions League!”

AC Milan 3 – 3 (2-4 PK) Liverpool

At the half I was so down and unhappy. One goal, okay, two goals, maybe, but how the heck were we playing so badly that Milan had scored three times? The midfield, one of our strongest areas all year, was letting so many Rossonari through to the final third you might have thought the Reds had two players dismissed. The third, especially, seemed to show that our boys had simply given up.

The first two minutes of the second half were nearly a repeat of the start; Milan had a free kick just outside the 18 yard box and a fourth score looked odds on. But that defensive stand was the turning point, from then to nearly the end of extra time the Reds dominated.

The first barrier hurdled came from the combination that’s been our best all year: John Arne Riise blasting a cross in from 20 yards, straight to the Captain’s head and into the far side of the Italian’s goal, inches over Dida’s straining hands. Two minutes later Vlad ‘Is he leaving’ Smicer punched in number two. Just before the hour mark, Gerrard broke into the box and Serginho got just enough of a foot and grasp to bring him down. The Spanish ref pointed straight to the spot, with several Milan players protesting to much that I’d not have been surprised to see a card produced.

Xabi Alonso took the kick–not who I was expecting, how about you?–and Dida was able to block the ball but not control it and the midfielder was on the rebound first, no one in front as he booted it into the netting. Tied. Can you believe it? Hope is always there until the final whistle but I don’t believe any Liverpool fan expected us to make back the three goals.

But with half an hour left Milan woke up. Not enough to break through our back line to reclaim the lead, just enough to get to 90 minutes without being humiliated. Extra time was mostly, to be fair, in favor of Milan but Rafa kept everyone except Cisse behind the ball. My heart as pumping when Jamie Carragher went down with an apparent goin pull in our goalmouth at 110 minutes and then he ran back on to keep his place for the last 10.

Some Milan fans are surely going to claim that Jerzy Dudek should have been warned after the first PK and had the second one retaken for the goalkeeper’s early departure from his line. I’m still too much of a novice fan to go against my own interest. Serginho, either way, was the goat again as he sent his team’s first attempt well over the top and far into the stands. A few minutes later European Footballer of the Year Andriy Shevchenko had no better luck and when Dudek save his attempt, the match was finally over, the Reds with four made kicks to only to for AC Milan.

The fifth European championship for Liverpool Fotball Club means UEFA must go back to the drawing board and design a new trophy, this one’s coming to Anfield for good. And when the UEFA board meets in three weeks, I can only hope that they’ll also design a way for these boys, so deserving after not giving in, not giving up, having made their way back from a massive deficit to win the league, to come back and defend the title.