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CL Finals: Sar does it!!!

May 21st, 2008 | By: Jan | 23 Comments »

After their EPL showdown you could only expect high drama and intensity in the CL finals between the Blues and the Mancunians. And that’s exactly what we got.

Chelsea had trouble settling into the game. There is a lot at stake for manager Grant and the Chelsea players have looked forward to finally reaching the finals for years. Now, being there, puts a lot of pressure on a team. Man United was comfortable in that first half. Possession was 65% for the Mancunians and their “good passes” ratio was outstanding. The first 30 minutes was for Ferguson’s team, playing Ronaldo and Hargreaves wide, Tevez as center striker and Rooney as offensive midfielder.

Man United’s concentration, pace and discipline put them on top in the 26th minute. A 1-2 combination between Brown and Scholes resulted in a beautiful cross into the box, where C.Ronaldo wasn’t marked well and his timing and heading technique did the rest. Petr Cech didn’t even respond: 1-0.

After that goal, Man United decided to rest back a bit and chose the counter attack to proceed. A wonderful deep ball by Rooney is picked up by C Ronaldo and his cross would normally allow Tevez to score. Cech stops it and the rebound is badly hit by Carrick and again Cech’s the man. Later on, another cross in seemed to be a 100% chance for Tevez, who just didn’t seem to expect the ball to get through. But allowing Chelsea to make the play also means that you allow them to settle. With Ballack and Makelele as the main characters in midfield, it was the till-then invisible Frank Lampard making a deep run into the box chasing a distant strike by Ballack. Ferdinand blocks the shot, allowing Lampard to take a shot from close distance: 1-1. Right before, Van der Sar already needed to save a backheader by Ferdinand with a huge reflex and by then – this is one minute before the break – Chelsea finally was alive and in the game.

The second half was for the Blues. Man United couldn’t dominate, with Tevez and Rooney playing below par and Scholes somewhat injured after a blow on the nose. Chelsea had the better options, with Drogba’s wonderful shot from stance on the post and a Essien shot sailing over the bar while Van der Sar lost his footing. No goals, however in the second half, taking the match into 30 minutes extra time.

Again, it was Chelsea in possession, committing numbers forward with Man United playing more counter-attacking. Lampard hit the cross bar after a beautiful combination in the box and on the other side it was Evra’s run into the box, allowing sub Ryan Giggs to cheer up his record outing for Manchester. His attempt was headed out of the empty goal by John Terry.

Emotions ran rampant, and Drogba forgot himself during a scuffle bitch slapping Vidic. A red card would be the Ivorian’s reward. In the last minutes, Man United seemed sharper but the final passing let them down.

Penalties! More drama to come…

Who would expect C Ronaldo to miss his penalty? The awesome ball-hitter again did his full-stop walk in but…missed. Cech denied him and Chelsea was on a winning course. Until Captain John Terry was up, to put away the decisive penalty and…he slipped on the surface and missed. Now it was the second tier group and anyone missing while the other party scored would mean the end of the game.

When Nicolas Anelka was up to take his spot kick for Chelsea, Van der Sar had a couple of chances to stop former Blues players but missed by inches. This time around, the 37 year old picked the right corner and won the Champions League for Manchester United.

All in all, it was a tight match. Not a great footballing match (it hardly ever is in finals) but tens, tight and exciting. With two teams giving it their all and two external factors not really giving it their all.

It has to be said: if this refereeing is going to be the standard at the EC, we’re all in trouble. The linesmen in particular were horrible. Many corners were denied, where corners were awarded that weren’t corners. The ref though he was Father Christmas handing out yellows (and a red card) willy-nilly. The second factor that disappointed was the Moscow pitch of course. But, that’s all in the game.

Kudos for Sar. Too bad for Ten Cate and Kalou. But there’s always next year.

Tags: Ballack, CL and UEFA, Holland, Kalou, Oranje, van der Sar

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Comments

By Kervin | May 21st, 2008 at 5:44 pm

What a final! what a game! One of the best days of my life! Thanks for the show, the drama Manchester United!!!!!! Stand up for the kings of europe!!!

By Michel-Olivier | May 21st, 2008 at 8:44 pm

VDS was wicked, he deserve man of the match, but i think it went to CR7

Posted from United States

By sphinx | May 21st, 2008 at 9:09 pm

Duel between worlds’ best keepers;
Sar 3 : Chez 0
bring that Eu pinlaty shoot outs!

Posted from Australia

By Jan | May 21st, 2008 at 11:46 pm

Man United should have been 3-0 up at half time though. That Tevez header wasn’t an easy one but Carrick should have put that one away!! And Tevez had a good opp later but he didn’t count on the defender missing that ball…

And Ferdinand shouldn’t have played that ball through the middle, for Essien to pick up and allow Lampard to score. Ferguson must have been pissed off at half time

Posted from Australia

By alaa | May 22nd, 2008 at 12:40 am

hi guys
@jan, this time i don’t agree with you man:), man u didn’t deserve to win today, chelsea hit the bar twice and the second half we didn’t see any real chance for man u. man u didn’t show any good soccer in this final and they sucked against barcelona in the semi final in both games. this team is so lucky this year to win both the premier league and the champions league.
and to be honest with you today i was so mad when i saw van der sar blocking anelka’s penalty, where were his heroic saves against france in 1996, against brazil in 1998, against italy in 2000, and against juventus in 1995. can you just immagine how much difference he could’ve made in the history of the orange???????
anyway i hope that if we need him in a penalty game this summer that he can really make the difference. (how nice can it be if he makes us beat italy in the final by saving a couple of penalties, this way we take our revenge from them, that euro 2000 game still hurts).

Posted from United States

By Jan | May 22nd, 2008 at 2:31 am

Hey fellow Jan,
I was so happy for van der Sar.
In Italy they mock him and laugh at him when he plays. THe Italian sports journalists are always underestimating him, saying he’s an awful keeper.
What a pity they haven’t seen him play since he left Juventus.
He’s in the top 5 best goalkeepers in the world and he proved it once more yesterday.
Don’t forget his 3 saves in the Community Shield at the beginning of the year always against Chelsea

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_mM_HZKS8w

Posted from Italy

By Jan | May 22nd, 2008 at 3:32 am

@alaa… I don’t think I said Man U deserved the win… Just that they missed two major opps in the first half they shouldn’t have missed and with that Ferdinand mistake taken away, they could have been 3-0 up. I realize Chelsea had good chances, like the balls on the woodwork and Essien’s shot (Sar slided away). The attack with Lambert hitting the bar was great football and the Ferdinand foul – arm outstretched – could have been in the box even.

Tevez was umlucky in his actions, Rooney was drowning… I don’t understand why Park was left out of the squad…

And… on EPSN guess who was the guest commentator in the first half? And guess who then moved on to the Spanish commentators for the second half?

Clarence!

His English is perfect! Incredible. The image of “dumb” football players put to the test! He speaks Dutch, English, Italian, Spanish and German and came across as a very humble and nice fellow. That was fun, sort of.

He praised the gazoodles out of Makelele, who was let off Madrid much too easy, he said. No word on the EC and Oranje though. Class act!

Posted from Australia

By goose | May 22nd, 2008 at 4:42 am

Think Man.U. were lucky… i was really hoping that Chelski would win (really dont like Man.U)
all was great when Ronnie had his black-out on the penalty spot but it was too good to be true… i feel really sorry for Terry whom i really respect as a captain and as a player

vdSar was just lucky… i mean, if you have 7 penaltys taken on your goal youre bound to stop some of them…vdSar acted like he saved some amasing shot and acted like he won Man.U. the Champ. Leg., both not true

vdSar never was, and never will be a stopper of penaltys…even yesterday when he made the right choice he was too late 3 times!!

guess i just dont like the guy

good to hear Clarence has a future in football once he calls it a day

Posted from Netherlands

By Finnster01 | May 22nd, 2008 at 5:19 am

Good game. I didn’t care who won. I dislike both Chelsea and Man U to no end. My Man of The Match was indeed Seedorf. He sounds brilliant and actually says sensible things as opposed to that little Irish Leprechaun next to him, Tommy “Shite” Smythe.

Posted from United States

By Jan | May 22nd, 2008 at 6:15 am

Goose, you don’t like Sar??

I never knew this… I know you don’t like De Jong and Landzaat and some others, but Sar… you kept this a secret eh?

You are right of course, with the odds of stopping a penalty. It is true. He was close with another one, but at the end of the day: a good penalty will always go in. Precision and pace. All that Ronaldo trickery doesn’t do anything. Bullshit. Showponey stuff.

But I can’t help it. although I would have liked Chelsea to win the cup, I did get goose(!)bumps when Sar stopped it. Call me a sissy.

Posted from Australia

By Jan | May 22nd, 2008 at 6:48 am

Same here. I was praying that he’d save the decisive one even if I don’t care about either team.

Posted from Italy

By goose | May 22nd, 2008 at 6:58 am

i have written that before (but i keep a low profile on this one, haaha) dont get me wrong, i think hes a great goalie and im happy ‘we’have him but thats about it.. (dont forget hes an ajax boy) i think he lacks charisma (?english) thats one of the reasons hes not a penalty killer, he has little presence in goal (like our albino boboon Oliver Kahn, or even Hans v Breukelen),when i think of vdSar i think of the colour grey..
BUT im happy he now feels good about himself cause that can only help during the EC

btw Jan; do you have a PO box? i got you a present

Posted from Netherlands

By Lerkot | May 22nd, 2008 at 7:47 am

Edwin van der Sar has been a great penalty killer since 2003 though, when he read that book about penalties that some Dutch expert wrote.

By Caleb | May 22nd, 2008 at 10:06 am

I agree with Lerkot, Sar has improved his penalty stopping ability.

I was completely satisfied with the result. I hate both teams, but hate Chelsea more, so for me the lesser of the two evils was Man U. I was ecstatic when Ronaldo screwed up his penalty, and even happier when Terry missed his chance to win it for his team. I used to like Terry, but over the last couple years he’s turned into a dirty, whining b*tch (like the rest of the Chelsea team). Also, having Sar stop the penatly to win the game was great and he’ll have tons of confidence going into the EC!

Posted from Canada

By Igor | May 22nd, 2008 at 11:16 am

i dislike both teams as well, but overall i have slightly more respect for manU because they at least try to play attacking football and can string a few passes together. having said that however, i dont think it showed yesterday, and i feel that based on yesterday’s performance, chelsea should have won it. they had bad luck and the refereeing was favouring manU for the most part. ferdinand caught someone with a high boot in the box and that went uncalled (and his arm foul may very well have occured in the box), and as jan mentioned, a lot of incorrect corner/goal kick calls were made, usually in man u’s favour. drogba deserved his red card, but he had taken a lot of abuse from vidic (who proved once again that he is manU’s best defender) all game long which went uncalled, while ronaldo got practically every call to go his way. actually, the best play of the game was the one that ended with lampard’s shot crashing off the bar and terry was really unlucky slipping in the wet turf.

i don’t know about sar as a penalty stopper and although i really like him, i agree with goose on this one. Sar guessed correctly on ballack’s, lampard’s and cole’s kicks but didn’t stop any of them (i’ll give him the fact that ballack’s kick was practically unstoppable). he even got a palm/hand on lampard’s shot and i feel that a good goalie should stop a shot that he got to in time to get a hand on, but instead it kind of went under him.

Posted from Canada

By Bob | May 22nd, 2008 at 11:57 am

Finally, here in the US we could watch a major international football match on “normal” tv. I took the afternoon off and, with my son, watched the CL final match. The blogger comments are correct, in that the match was not that terrific from a pure football standpoint, but nevertheless, great fun to watch. Then, the big Dutchman helps us forget all those losses by the national team in spot kick competitions. How great for van de Sar! A nice way to end his club football career. When it ended, my son turned to me and said “Now, if this can just happen at Euro!” Wishful thinking, I’m afraid, but it would be great!

Jan, I was also very impressed by Clarence Seedorf–his multi-language skills, his comments, his style. Based on your other blog regarding wealthy footballers under 40, he is obviously intelligent based on how well he has managed his resources. One of the characteristics of the proto-typical Dutch athlete is intelligence, and the national football team has been blessed with many.

Goose, unlike you, I do not support Chelsea. I have never been a fan of sports teams that try to “buy” championships, and in football, Chelsea set the model for such conduct. The money spent by Abramovitch has been obscene, and although Chelsea has been vastly improved, I am pleased to see that money alone does not guarantee success. I did feel bad for Terry, he is a class act, a committed athlete and was truly devastated by his missed spot kick.

Posted from United States

By stephen | May 22nd, 2008 at 12:53 pm

I’ve always like vdSar. Very poised, solid keeper. He has a lot of confidence going into EC, maybe some of that can rub off onto our back 4.
Most keepers who guess right don’t make the save. If players hit the corners, its impossible to save. Sar did just fine.

Posted from United States

By Igor | May 22nd, 2008 at 2:57 pm

bob, i agree with you that teams that try to buy success don’t deserve the same respect afforded to other teams, but i don’t think that Chelsea “set the model for such conduct” as you put it, other teams have done it before, for example real madrid with their “galacticos”. i would really like to see an end to the total dominance enjoyed by the clubs with the most cash, and perhaps it is time to introduce a “salary cap” idea as is currently used in the national hockey league here in north america…the competitivness of the league has never been tighter now that teams can’t be made up completely of the best paid superstars.

Posted from Canada

By Miguel Rosado | May 22nd, 2008 at 3:33 pm

Edwin really deserves it, he has always been my first choice goalie of the world and he has studied how to stop penalties over the years.

I am so happy for him, he will be one of the big pilars of the Dutch camp for the EC.

By Caleb | May 22nd, 2008 at 3:58 pm

Bob – “I did feel bad for Terry, he is a class act…”

I have to disagree. Terry WAS a class act, but not anymore. If you watched Chelsea this season you would have seen a lot of very classless acts. I’ve lost all respect for Terry (as have most non-Chelsea English fans).

Posted from Canada

By Lerkot | May 22nd, 2008 at 4:25 pm

I dont understand the deal with letting central defenders take important penalty kicks. Its just plain stupid and it never ever works. More often than not is central defenders amongst the worst on the pitch at kicking the ball accurately. Jaap Stam had to take one against Italy. Terry took one yesterday. Mellberg took one for us against Holland. Its just plain stupid.

By Jan | May 22nd, 2008 at 4:54 pm

Taking penalty kicks doesn’t have a lot to do with being able to play football. It’s a totally different game. A mind game. Concentration. Focus. Balance. Most players at top level should be able to score 100% on penalties, whether they are striker, playmaker, center back or goalie. It’s easy to train. On training, they score 10 out of 10, I’d imagine.

But then…on the big stage. CL finals. The honour. The money. The cameras. The pressure. The 120 minutes of football in the legs. It’s different.

Frank de Boer was a center back and he could score them (except in…well…you know…).

I am also happy Sar comes to Oranje with his head up high.

Posted from Australia

By goose | May 23rd, 2008 at 6:52 am

@bob; im not a chelski fan .. i just supported them during this final (my english team in Pool)

@Lerkot; Dragbo was red carded, thats why Terry took the penalty

Posted from Netherlands

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