So I’m not a zealous football fan and my loyalties to the club of my choice can be questionable, but I do love to watch a good match. The final of the 2012 UEFA Champions league was such a match for me. Having the five times UEFA champions Bayern Munich play against Chelsea, a newbie to the European champions winning streak, the match could easily have been a done deal in regards to who could win. Initially when the game started, the 76% ball possession as well as the 13 on target shots by Bayern gave Munich supporters the hope that Bayern would walk away with the cup. As a sucker for the underdogs, I cheered for Chelsea whose 71% ball possession revolved around defense. The fatal flaw on Bayern’s side began when Bayern’s striker, Thomas Muller who scored the first goal of the match in the 84th minute, was substituted with defensive midfielder just about 8minutes before the end of the game. How incredulous was that? Everyone knows the end of a match is the most crucial time where a team has to be at its best.
Last minute goal surprises are not news to the world of football. Just when Bayern got comfortable, Drogba turned the tides by scoring an equaliser in the 88th minute. Chelsea who had strategically played defense the entire time was suddenly energized and the usual suspense that accompanies great matches began to keep the like of me at the edge of our seat. Before we knew it, we were on an emotional roller coaster with Chelsea and the entertainment factor of a good football match kicked in with Chelsea players picking up 2 yellow cards, 1 missed free kick and 1 awesome penalty save by Peter Cech. Bayern’s offside goal by Franck Ribery was quite a disappointment for Bayern supporters who were so sure their team would pick up the pace and strike back especially since they were playing at home.
The 30 minutes extra time led the 1-1 goal stalemate to the dreaded moment, penalty shoot outs. By this time, BB display messages reeked with excitement as non-football fans joined the guessing game for how the playoffs would be in BB chat groups. Chelsea fans wasted no time in broadcasting messages of symbolism such as the founding of Chelsea in 1905 and the date of the present match which was 19-05-2012. Statistics showed that Bayern had a better chance of winning based on penalties as has been done 5 previous matches while the odds were against Chelsea because the two matches they had played that ended in a penalty was a no-win for them. Chelsea started on a bad note with a miss, I found myself praying for a miracle but when Bayern Munich missed twice, I screamed for joy as the journey to the champions’ cup for Chelsea had its happy ending.
With a grueling journey which began with Chelsea making it only as far as the quarter finals in 2000, also to the semi final match in 2004 and ultimately losing at the 2008 finals, it would seem Chelsea were destined to win even though Bayern was the better team for the night. With Chelsea going home with not only the engraved silverware trophy and gold medals but also billions of dollars, all we spectators can say is “All is well that ends well”. In the end, we are left with two moral lessons from this year’s champions (who have joined the list of 10 teams to win the trophy at least once) which are: never quit trying and taking chances/risks because the reward is guaranteed success.
whao! this is a very interesting side that i never knew you had! supersports should be looking for you to anchor sports analysis! rily tight Ann.
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