Well, well, well who'd have thought it. The 2008 Champions League final was not the dour, boring game I predicted, but rather the opposite.
In a game of two halves, pardon the cliche, it was one talismanic figure that had the biggest impact.
No, it wasn't Ronaldo (although it very nearly was with a goal and a missed penalty), it was Chelsea skipper John Terry.
Now this man is Chelsea through and through and I do feel for him, especially as he denied Ryan Giggs a fairytale goal in normal time, but I believe that tonight he paid the price for his personal pride.
As Man Utd were drawing 4-4 on penalties, up stepped John Terry who, if he scores wins the Champions League for Chelsea and will get to lift the trophy.
He misses.
Now I understand that it takes a lot of guts to step up, in front of millions of people, to take the deciding penalty in the biggest game of your career, especially when it's for the team you have given your all for.
But there were better penalty takers in Chelsea's team than John Terry.
He didn't have to take that penalty, but he chose to which, when it is worth so much, seems a little selfish.
Many will argue that what he did was entirely selfless, but the better option for the team would've been for someone better at penalties (perhaps Kalou) to take that fifth penalty.
I can't help but think that he thought of personal glory as much as team glory. He would be hailed as "Captain Fantastic" by the media, a brave and courageous hero.
He felt that he had given his all for the club for almost ten years, and this would be the perfect way for him to be acknowledged for that.
I'm not saying he was wrong!
He deserves it, but perhaps his personal pride got in the way of what was best for the team for the first time in nearly a decade.
He may have had visions of lifting the cup, and it being down to him.
He, personally, would've won the Champions League for Chelsea.
However, it didn't happen that way, he missed, and the pure agony on his face was clear to see.
I felt for him, but was he regretting going for personal glory?
Don't see this as an attack on John Terry, I respect him hugely even if I don't like him, but I have to question his motives.
Meanwhile, Didier Drogba got what he deserved. I jumped for joy when the red card was pulled out for him—it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy, exposed on the grandest stage of them all as the cheat he is.
I know I'll get a lot of stick from Chelsea fans for this, so to seem unbiased, I have to say Chelsea were the better team. They hit the post and bar through two fantastic efforts.
But that doesn't change the fact that Man Utd are European Champions for the third time (not quite five but I'll let them have their night).
Shamefully, I found myself singing "Glory Glory, Man United" when Van der Sar saved that last penalty.
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4 months ago
I'm really a fan of neither club, but Terry taking that shot was not the problem. He caught Van der Sar guessing the wrong way and simply slipped as he made contact with the ball. Unfortunate yes, but it was hardly a situation where the shooter was overmatched at the task of taking the shot.
from 4 months ago
i just think there were better penalty takers in that chelsea team than john terry, it was unfortunate and he was inches away from proving me wrong, but those inches, plus anelkas poor penalty, cost them the champions league
4 months ago
lol Barney, for all the good things about the Final, you chose to focus on "what you think" was a selfish act by Terry.
Come on now....
from 4 months ago
i see your point, but i didnt want to write one of the ineveitable hundreds of match reports. just thought that for the first time in 10 years terry may have done something selfish and he paid the price!
4 months ago
You cant blame the loss on Terry. Also you cant say that there were better penalty takers than Terry in the side. Ballack, Belleti, Lampard and Cole. All stepped up before him and you can see from that that Avram has opted to choose experienced footballing professionals rather than inexperienced players that would crumble under the pressure. Terry was a professional who could put the pressure on his shoulders. At the end of the day, he slipped. Theres nothing bad about that.
And you were singing "Glory, glory Man Utd."
Call yourself a Liverpool fan
from 4 months ago
enough of that sam i only sang it once! and what about kalou, carvalho, essien, and anelka can all strike a ball better than terry and i would guess are all better at penalty taking than terry!
4 months ago
Man, I'm an Arsenal fan but I wanted chelski to win. I feel 4 them. I can't stand ManU telling us they r the best 4 another year. I said the same thing u said - John Terry was not the right guy 4 that penalty - love John Terry but I have to say it was personal glory!
from 4 months ago
I am a Man Utd fan, but I feel for John Terry. It takes a lot of nerve to take a penalty in the shoot-out, and what an important one too. He had the balls to go up there and try to win it. He failed, through no fault of his own, but all credit to him all the same.
Oh and one more thing
CHAMPIONS! CHAMPIONS! CHAMPIONS! CHAMPIONS!
I AM SO HAPPY!
4 months ago
Last time I checked, John Terry's name isn't Avram Grant. In the end it was the managers decision to let him take that shot. I'm sure he wasnt stomping mad, demanding that he get to take the kick. If you don't like John Terry go ahead, but to say that he put his personal pride in front of everything else is ridiculous.
from 4 months ago
the players step up and say they want to take a penalty more often thatn not in these games. the managers have gotta pick players who want to take penalties, otherwise the ones they choose will bottle it!
from 4 months ago
I think you're just a John Terry hater who is looking for excuses to make him look bad. I'd say stick to blogging but it doesnt seem like you can even do a good job of that.
from 4 months ago
And for the record, if Drogba didnt make that idiotic slap, Terry wouldnt have been in the top 5.
from 4 months ago
i wouldn't quite call myself a John Terry hater! i just don't like the guy! and i don't go round looking for excuses to make him look bad! so everything in that comment is wrong!
a you then start blaming Drogba? Well I think you're just a Didier Drogba hater who is looking for excuses to make him look bad. I'd say stick to writing your own articles, but you don't seem to to be very good at that...
4 months ago
My heart hasn't calmed down yet, but I don't thikn Terry would sacrifice his team just for his ego.
4 months ago
that entire article is the reason that penalty shoot outs are the worst thing to decide these situations. pity there is no other conceivable way to do it like a juggling comp. on half way or something (teeheehee).
realistically another penalty taker could not have stepped up for the deciding penalty because the chelsea faithful could not ever forgive anyone else as they will forgive terry.
it is extremely cynical however to say that he stepped up thinking of how he would be labelled captain fantastic etc.
Do you really think that was what was going through his mind when he walked toward the ball?
I think perhaps it was something like 'god i hope i dont miss this, which way shall i send it, holy crap'
from 4 months ago
he may well have been thinking about what could go wrong, but whose to say he wasn't thinking about the rewards of scoring the winning penalty? and i for one love watching penalty shootouts! as long as liverpool aren't involved!
4 months ago
he slipped. Van der sar went the wrong way. If he hadn't slipped, he would have scored. End of story.
4 months ago
I'm a Man United fan (and still in dreamland by the way) but I have to say I don't think that it is in John Terry's nature to go for personal glory. You can probably go as far as saying Chelsea PROBABLY thought they had the trophy in the bag...and the other Chelsea players probably all told JT to take the penalty...what better way to win a final than have your club captain score the winning penalty?!?! Maybe I'm wrong but I just don't see JT being the "personal glory" type.
It was destiny for United to win tonight....the pouring rain led to Terry slipping....Thank you flowers of manchester!!!
I must admit though, I thought we had lost when Ronaldo missed!
GLORY GLORY MAN UNITED!! INDEED!
4 months ago
There are better articles discussing what occurred in Moscow, this seems very one sided
from 4 months ago
if it seems one sided im not trying to be! i just focused on one thing, if the same had happened the other way round but say gary neville stepped up for man utd (i know he wasnt playing but if he was) then i would write the same article on him.
4 months ago
If he had not slipped and scored the penalty in that sweet bottom corner, would you have written this article? People just come down on players who don't achieve what people expected.I love your opinion and all, but how can you even suggest that he was going for personal glory before making it for the team. Are you part of the squad to know that? Are you a close friend to Terry? NO, YOU'RE NOT! So quit making these false and horrendous arguments for the sake of getting 50 comments and 1,000 clicks on your article. Chelsea lost, Manchester Wins...END OF STORY!
from 4 months ago
i wasn't under the impression that I had to be John Terry's close friend to put forward an argument?
from 4 months ago
Well I think you have to be in order to say that he was seeking his personal sake rather than the team's. Plus, if that's the case, do you have enough evidence to prove this? No, you don't! Are you sure he's seeking personal glory just cuz he missed a penalty? Man, go review your arguments and you'll see what I mean. Just to let you know, I'm not saying your opinion is bad. What I am saying lies in the fact that you have to provide your arguments with legit evidence. And personally, I don't think "personal glory" can be proved unless you're a close person to that person. Nothing offensive here, okay? I'm just stating my opinion just like you did.
from 4 months ago
i don't know for a fact whether or not john terry put his personal pride before his team, but I was just putting forward the argument that it might be the reason. I understand that this is purely opinion, but no-one other than John Terry will truthfully know whether he did or not.
4 months ago
I'm not so sure about your argument, Barney. I feel that Terry stepped up to take the penalty and missed - simple. I really don't think that he wanted to grab all the glory etc.. It is sad that he missed the penalty but there is no way you can blame the loss on him. Had he scored, he would've been the hero but not the solitary reason for their victory. So, I don't think you can blame Terry for much.. even the penalty - as it did hit the post and he did send the keeper the wrong way - so, sorry mate I think that you've got it wrong here.
4 months ago
I think terry got what he deserved.....i cant deny he is an excellent footballer, and possibly the best defender in the world, not me nor anyone else can take that away from him.
but to see that smug smile swiped from his face was pure bliss, he has his head so far up his own arse its unreal, I mean he can cut a player down, not get the ball and still have the nerve to jump up and start screaming at the player claiming to the ref he 'dived' or he got the ball, when its all nonsense,.....the ref can see this, as can the crowd and the millions watching TV..hes a fucking moron thats let his status go to his head....
finally hes been brought down a peg or two and hopefully he'll get back to doing what he does best, playing football, not brown nosing ref's
anonymous chelsea fan
4 months ago
ok everyone calm down a bit! all i said was that was a possible explanation i didn't say it was fact!
4 months ago
Utter rubbish.
I'm not a Chelsea fan but I do know that the first five penalty takers have to be decided in advance and in order from 1-5 for the officials.
So Terry had volunteered - or been told - to go fifth.
How was he to know it would even get to five penalties? Steven Gerrard was lined up as Liverpool's fifth penalty taker in 2005, turned out that he didn't need to take one. It takes balls to go last.
Terry slipped. He would have scored otherwise. Incredibly bad luck as Chelsea were the better side on the night.
4 months ago
Terry can't take penalties. I knew as soon as he stepped up he would miss. The most likely cause of the slip is the immense pressure he was under... Strange how no one else slipped. I'm a Chelsea fan and absolutely gutted. I don't blame JT but Avram. The difference between winning and losing is such a fine line. That's why Avram will always be the nearly man. He shouldn't have let JT take the most vital penalty (The 5th penalty). He lost us the Carling cup, lost us the FA cup, lost us the league at Wigan where we were winning 1-0 and still bombing all our players forward in the last 5 minutes! What a tool... Shut up shop and waste time. We ended up with 1-1. Now he lost us the Champions League.
I have seen JT take penalties before and he missed that too!
4 months ago
its just a pity he missed . we all have to listen to them shower of bastards all year.
4 months ago
When you're in line to take a potentially decisive kick (the 5th one), you have to ask yourself: is there anyone in this team who is better equipped to take this penalty? Anyone who is more likely to score? I think if Terry had done that he would have let Kalou or Essien step up.
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