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In regard to the game, I think its pointless to argue who should of won because to be honest, both sides were almost equal. Man Utd took the first half easily, Chelsea the second easily and i'll call extra time a draw. Ultimately its penalties that count and you have to feel for Terry. It must have taken a lot to take that penalty and its hard to see him so cut up about it.
On the lack of sportsmanship, I think you're being to harsh. I personally love the physical side of the English game, yet I too was disgusted by some of the antics by Drogba & Vidic. Cut those out and then it would have a perfectly reasonable rough-and-tumble battle. I think we as fans need to be careful how much we criticize players for their reactions as aren't we just as bad. You just have to look at the way people take pleasure at the pain of the likes of Terry, Ronaldo and (remembering back to the passing of his mother) Lampard, and yourself, is that sportsmanlike? I personally think fans and their stupidity rubs off onto the players.
Finally I would just like to say that the ref had a diabolical game. Although he got the red card decision right (technically), the 4 calls against Joe Cole in a row by him and his assistants was embarrassing. Its a shame that the ref made such a hash of the game as it is supposed to be a competition between Europe's best, don't they deserve a quality referee?
Some of the whinging was a bit much, the second half was boring, but I thought on the whole it wasn't a bad match.
Some of the stuff was unsportsmanlike. But, I would rather watch guys getting a bit chippy and actually caring about the result of the match.
Watching players like Tevez and Hargreaves who are skillful but at the same time running around like crazy tackling and trying to make things happen is the essence of English football.
It wasn't as great as the Liverpool/Chelsea and Liverpool/Aresnal second leg ties but it was a great game. What it lacked in eye pleasing football it made up for in tension cutting drama. The game got a little out of hand and the referee should have kept the game more in check. Also I think if this was an american viewers first foray into European football it was a great game for them to watch. As dirty as the game may have been, it was far more entertaining than last years final and the one played by Barca/Aresnal, a game played by two of the more eye catching teams in europe.
Also, add my name to the list of readers who disagree with this article. I too did not expect an entertaining game of football especially with how Chelsea like to keep things cagey and through the middle. But this was a fantastic and entertaining game of football. Though not great. It was a joy to watch a game where players treated a possession like their lives depended on it.
A good win for Man Utd and football in general. Now bring on Euro 2008!!!
It was a hugely entertaining game of football, full of incident, passion and skill right up until the very last moment. The destination of the trophy see-sawed between the two teams throughout the game with both having chances to wrap it up in normal and extra time.
With the teams being so evenly matched, the game was always going to be scrappy in midfield as no one player was going to be able to pull strings and neither midfield dominate the other.
All credit to the managers for going for a result and not playing cagey football. The second half was less interesting because after playing 4-4-2 against chelsea's 4-3-3/4-5-1 utd changed to mirror chelsea's formation in the second half in an attempt to stop chelsea from dominating as they were starting to do.
The histrionics were a bit much, especially the unsportsmanlike behaviour, but that is what happens when players care so much about the outcome of the game.
I hope we don't see another "all English" final for a long time.
For me, Chelsea were horrible at crowding and shouting at the ref though United had their moments of shame as well. Drogba was brutal...constantly going down at the slightest touch. He can be such a dominant player when he actually puts himself about the pitch instead of falling on his backside and whinging.
The ref missed some calls - but nothing major. Chelsea should have sent the ball back to United after United put it our for treatment, but they got the ball back one way or another. There were some scuffles, but that's to be expected from two evenly matched teams that know each other well and are under such pressure. All in all, a very memorable match in my opinion. I'll remember the stories of this match as much as who won it.
What started the whole fracas? It looked like Terry charged Tevez, but it was hard to see due to the cameras. Anyone else see?
there was no chance the game would gain a rhythm and flow.
There is such a small window of opportunity right now in the world game for so many of these players given financial structures and a lack of parody. So when someone flips out and acts childish I can understand to a point. Not to say it's right, but I can understand.
Great drama all around and that's what everyone wants anyway.
I don't believe this was a game that hurt the EPL at all. It just showed how much passion there was on the pitch. Plus this a nice rivalry, I don't want much sportsmanship. God forbid Michael Jordan showed any sportsmanship against the Knicks during their Championship run. Everyone loves a good battle, even if it gets a little dodgy at times.
Now - i.oWENS, you need to get your eyes checked. Chelsea were diving all over the pitch, faking injury every 5 minutes and theatrically begging for calls every time the wind blew across the field.
It's pretty obvious to me that if anything, the ref called the game in Chelsea's favor- you certainly got more BS fouls called your way, thanks to Hoe Cole, the Teutonic Tosser, Florence Malouda and Maude Makalele.
In all fairness, you did get a bum call on the early Makalele yellow, and the ref blew a number of corners and throw-ins in United's favor. All in all I think it just about balanced out.
I challenge you to watch all of those supposed "fouls" on replay and tell me that Chelsea weren't diving 90% of the time. Here's a tip - diving cheats don't usually get the benefit of the doubt when a marginal foul occurs.
Oh well, it was a good, compelling 120 minutes of very English football, and the right team did win. See you next year!