Champions League Victory!

How can one possibly capture in words the exhilaration and joy that Rob and I are experiencing today? No, we didn't move up our nuptials! No, today we watched as Liverpool came from 3-0 down at half-time and went on to beat AC Milan 3-2 on penalties in the Champions League! This probably means very little to many of you but to us it's a feeling beyond belief.




The Champions League is UEFA's (Union of European Football Associations--the governing body of football in Europe) most prestigious cup competition and is open to teams that finish in the top of their domestic leagues in Europe--which basically means you play the top teams in France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, etc. in a series of knock-out stages until you reach the final. Liverpool finished fourth in the English league last season and was the last team from England to qualify for the competition to be played this year. Along the way we have beaten Juventus (who won the Italian league this season) and Chelsea (who won the English league this season) until we were finally faced against AC Milan, who finished second in the Italian league this season, for the final. Having really underperformed in the English league, and finishing the season in fifth place, it was virtually inconceivable that Liverpool would walk away with the trophy today.

It seemed less and less likely that we would win when, only 50 seconds into the first half, AC Milan scored their first goal. By the end of the first half, Milan had gotten two more and were beating Liverpool 3-0. To give you an idea of how inconceivable it was that Liverpool would come back to find victory, at half-time the odds of Liverpool winning were 188-1. The first five minutes of the second half didn't seem to offer much promise for Liverpool's comeback but then they began stringing some passes together and in the 56th minute, Stevie Gerrard finally found the back of the net!




Nothing inspires a team more than a goal and suddenly, Liverpool had sprung to life. Only two minutes later Liverpool found the net for the second time bringing the score to 3-2 and just four minutes after that, Stevie Gerrard was brought down in the box and awarded a penalty kick which Xabi Alonso missed, but was able to convert the rebound into a goal to bring the score level at 3-3. UN-FRIGGIN'-BELIEVABLE!!!!! The last 30 minutes played out without any additional goals which meant 30 minutes extra time were added on. With only two minutes to go, the Liverpool goalie made the most amazing save--here's what one match report said about it:

"Jerzy Dudek pulls off the greatest double-save I've ever seen to deny Andriy Shevchenko from point-blank range twice in quick succession. How did he keep the ball out? Two reaction saves in a row - it was amazing goalkeeping. The first was a bullet-header from the edge of the six-yard box, while the second hit his hands and went over the bar."

The final whistle blew with the score still level at 3-3 which meant the winner would be decided on penalty kicks. Any of you ever watch a penalty shoot out? Once we were watching a youth soccer game that went to penalties--we didn't know any of the players, weren't routing for any team in particular and still our hearts just about stopped with anxiety during the penalty kicks. When you actually care about the result, it's pure torture. (Some of you may remember England going out of the European Cup last summer when they lost to Portugal on penalty kicks.) But, today, the torture was worth it. The Liverpool goalie managed to save TWO penalty kicks (a nearly impossible task) and Liverpool went on to win 3-2!!!






The last time Liverpool won the Champions League was in 1984--the same year the pope died and Prince Charles got married. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?