YYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We did it!
We fucking did it.
I swear to god the ambulances must be busy in the greater Manchester area right now… The tension in that game rivaled that of England-Argentina 98 and that was the precise match that made me a lifelong football fan. This is one for the record books and one for the ages. Probably the nerviest 94 minutes of my entire life. Nobody thought we could hold a 1-0 win, but we did it. We fucking did it.
A LINK TO SCHOLESY’S GOAL… IT’LL GO DOWN IN HISTORY.
COMPLETE MATCH HIGHLIGHTS RIGHT HERE
Think about it- we kept a clean sheet against the feared Barcelona over 3 hours of competitive football. Beat that Arsenal. Beat that Chelsea. Beat that Liverpool. I dare you. I absolutely goddamned dare you to shut out Barcelona with a makeshift defense over three hours of football. Did we blow them away with attacking flair and trickery? Hell no! We won the English way- we ground out the result and wore our opponents down. We invited them onto us and kept the door shut. The same resolve that beat the Nazis over sixty years ago was on display here. The character, guile and class of the English people was exemplified by this group of seemingly random young men hailing from all corners of the globe. We did it and nobody said we could do it this way, but we goddamned did it.
Who would have predicted that the shadow of a seemingly similar set of circumstances nine long years ago would cast itself over this game in the 13th minute of the game. Paul Scholes, who was denied a chance to play (suspension) in 1999 stood up and took his chance with the calm collectedness that we’ve grown accustomed to from the Ginga Ninja over his entire career. A top player and quite possibly the most understated footballing genius on the planet simply said “Yes, I can” when history called upon him today. He stepped up and made the difference. Player of the game- Van Der Sar or Tevez, it’s a toss-up, but I’d say VDS’ key saves kept this one 1-0… Tevez put in the battling performance that I predicted. The entire defense deserves a lot of applause for their gutsy performance, with Hargreaves, Brown, Ferdinand and Evra putting in season-defining performances. Our back four are the reason why we are where we are. You don’t hold a 1-0 lead over two legs against Barca without one of the world’s tightest defenses. After a lot of disappointment this month, we came out on top and won. I’m going to get some beer and steak. The sun is shining and it’s mid-afternoon here. It’s going to be a wonderful day.
Moscow. We belong there. We’re the best. Let’s do it.
