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APRIL 23, 2007 VOL. 21. NO 2 |
| The Last 4 Standing Last week’s Union of European Football Associations, (UEFA) champions league encounter leaves four top sides remaining in this year’s contest By Bayo Bernard As usual, last week’s quarter-final matches across Europe sent waves of jubilation across the country, as three of Nigeria’s favourite English clubsides have now qualified to play in the semi-finals of the prestigous UEFA Champions League. Presently, three teams from England, Manchester United, Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC will join the only Italian club, AC Milian to form the quartet that will play in the next elimination series, the semi-finals. Interestingly, football pundits are of the opinion that two teams that will, perhaps, trade tackles in the final game could as well be English, a near coincidence with the 2005 scenario when it was an all-English finals. Liverpool FC, one of the three English sides that qualified last week for the last four have in their kitty the 2005 title. Attractions in last week’s event painted a similar scenario that usually trails UEFA matches. A few minutes before Tuesday matches kicked off, there was the usual traffic of football fans, searching for cafés and leisure spots to comfortably watch their favourite teams play. One fan who spoke with The Source after the match between Manchester United and Roma FC of Italy said the love for English clubsides was not unconnected with the fact that, “they are the best in the world.” His assertion is, perhaps, on track as shown by the sterling performance of the three English clubsides during the quarter finals. For instance Man U, as Manchester United is popularly called, put up a scintillating performance which saw the Alex Ferguson-tutored side cruising to the semi-finals, at the expense of their opponents from Italy. Historically, the old Trafford clubside has a track record of memorable performances at ‘home’ but, the match against Roma, which they had earlier won 2-1 in the first leg is perhaps the best show put up against any top European side in recent times. Upon the blast of the first whistle, the superiority displayed in terms of ball possession left nobody in doubt that Man U had perfected all technicalities that would eventually subdue the hard- fighting team from Rome. Indeed, by the time Michael Carrick curled in United’s first goal, and another one from Alan Smith, the Roma bench most probably began thinking of finding a way to assuage the situation. But, the 13th minute goal from Wayne Rooney put paid to all that, giving a breather to the home side to finally crush their opponents. Even though the Sir Alex Ferguson side were bent on revenge, both teams put up sterling attacking manoeuvres in the first four minutes, but three goals in the first 13 minutes guided against any attempt by Roma to find a way to reduce the deficit, as the Italians only succeeded in making their defence vulnerable for United's swift and pacy attack. With an additional two goals from the Portuguese winger, Christiano Ronaldo, Roma was still gasping for breath when another goal from Carrick and a subtle shot from Patrice Eura which sailed into the net gave United the 8-3 aggregate the English side needed to book a place in the last four. Another interesting thing during last week's matches was that fans in the various sides of the divide adorned jerseys of their favourite teams, from all the cafes visited by The Source, Man U and Chelsea colours were apparently in dominance – a clear indication that the two English sides were already favoured ahead of their opponents to coast home to victory, notwithstanding the resistance that might be put up to quash such ambitions by opponents. Taking a cue from their Old Tradford compatriots, who had earlier walloped the side from Italy by a record 7-1 margin, Chelsea completed the English victories in an away triumph against Valencia in Mustalla, Spain. During the tensed encounter in Spain, Nigeria and indeed Africa had a fair share of the glory as three of their own were heroes in the quest to cap another English side in this year’s European championship. Days before the duel in Spain, Jose Morinho, manager of the ‘Blues’ had told journalists at Stampford Bridge that the Nigerian-born Mikel Obi and Ghananian midfielder, Michael Essien will play a major role in the attack against their Spanish opponents, with top striker Didier Drogba also likely to play. He said Mikel is currently in top form and favour which will enable the dread locks midfielder provide the logistics needed by Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard to frustrate efforts by Valencia to play a draw, having created a 1-1 upset penultimate week in London. Morinho: “They (Valencia) beat Roma and Inter, they have a very good team. But we can go there and get a result and we have the advantage because if we score before them, we are in front of them.” True to his words, the Portuguese born Chelsea coach capitalised on the Ghanaian angled goal to prove a point that his side resolve to book a place in the semi final was non-negotiable. Earlier Valencia had taken the lead when Joaquin crossed for Fernando Morientes to slide in a goal few moment after Morientes had hit a post. Unlike Manchester United which had a smooth ride over Roma, Andrey Shevchenko leveler against the ever determined Valencia could not have been enough to send the Portuguese packing, save for Essien goal that rented the air with waves of jubilation a final assurance to Chelsea fans hoping to watch their favourite club play among the best four. Perhaps this year's semi-finals would have been an all English finals, but for Arsenal FC which failed to join the other three English sides as they lost out in the first elimination series, that also saw the defending champions, Barcelona FC crash out prematurely – a different scenario from the 2005 final when the last four were all English clubsides. In the fourth quarter final match to round off that stage of elimination series last Wednesday. Bayern Munich, with their veteran goal tender and captain of the German national team, Oliver Khan on duty, failed to impress as they lost to another Italian side 0-2. Historically, Bayern Munich has beaten AC Milan just once in nine matches. But after its 2-2 draw in Milan penultimate week, football pundits were of the view that all the home team needed to break the jinx was a 0-0 or 1-1 scoreline to enable the German side advance via the away goals rule. But neither Khan's ingenuinity in stopping goals nor the resistance put up by his teammates could stop Clarence Seadorf's 26th minute goal and another by Inzaghi, which finally put paid to Bayern’s ambition in front of their home supporters. Indeed, before anybobody could say Jack Robinson, the Italians already had home victory with a 4-2 aggregate. After the two matches that rounded off the quarter-finals last Wednesday, Liverpool FC, another top English side booked a place in the semi-finals, with Italy’s AC Milian completing the four teams that would now play in the last elimination stage before the final. The Anfied team won on 4-0 agregate, having beaten PsV Eindoven of Holland 3-0 in the first leg. As things stand presently, football pundits are of the view that a top English side may as well win this year's European most prestigious title. Should this happen, the teeming Nigerian followers of English football would have been compensated somehow for their unwavering support for the round leather game in England. |
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