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Manchester United and Chelsea have been neck-and-neck in the Premiership all season, they both got to the Champions League semi-finals, and on Saturday they met in the very first FA Cup Final at the new Wembley Stadium. It was perhaps appropriate that the two best teams in England should be involved in this historic match, but their closeness in terms of quality (“There was nothing between the two teams - neither deserved to lose or win,” said United manager Sir Alex Ferguson) turned out to be a recipe for football that was less than exciting. Chelsea coach José Mourinho claimed a tactical victory, including having “a minimum of six players behind the ball line, so that when you lose the ball you have those six players there”. There was, therefore, very little goalmouth action, and both sides appeared content to pass the ball around in midfield most of the time, with only the occasional goal opportunity interrupting the tedium.
Alex Ferguson also pointed to a certain amount of fatigue in his players: “It’s been an exhausting season with a lot of matches,” he said. United, like Chelsea, have been involved in four competitions, and most of the players have played between 50 and 60 games.
United star Cristiano Ronaldo was marked out of the game, and it was left to Wayne Rooney to provide the most danger for his team with a couple of strong runs on goal. Chelsea’s most dangerous player, as always, was Didier Drogba, and the Ivorian striker did in fact prove decisive; five minutes before the end of extra time, when everyone was thinking that the stalemate would only be broken by penalties, he performed a delightful one-two with Frank Lampard before prodding the ball past the oncoming Edwin van der Sar for his 33rd goal of the season. United had claimed a goal in the first half of extra time when Ryan Giggs slid into Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech and the ball was carried over the line, but it didn’t count and Drogba’s did. And Chelsea had their fourth FA Cup title.
So it was John Terry who will be remembered as the first captain to climb the new Royal Box steps (possibly for the last time as Chelsea’s captain since there are rumours that he will be leaving the club) to receive the FA Cup, on this occasion from Prince William; seven years ago, the then Chelsea captain Dennis Wise lifted the same trophy in the last FA Cup Final at the old Wembley, Chelsea having beaten Aston Villa 1-0.
It’s taken a long time and an awful lot of money (an estimated £750m – over a billion euros) for the new Wembley to be conceived, designed, built and inaugurated, and it’s certainly a magnificent stadium, with a massive, unique arch replacing the similarly iconic twin towers of the old Wembley. The game has moved on, though, and comfort is now the key for the 90,000 spectators who can fit into the stadium: there is more leg room between the seats, there are more refreshment facilities (albeit much more expensive than of old), and there are now 2,618 toilets (as opposed to 361 before). The view of the pitch is also much better, and access to and from the stadium, notably along the famous Wembley Way, is far smoother.
In three months’ time, the two teams will return to this beautiful stage to contest the Community Shield, the opening game of the English season between the Premiership Winners (United) and the FA Cup Winners (Chelsea). We can only hope that it’s a more enjoyable game than this Final.
Mourinho, who spoke after the game as if he will be staying at Stamford Bridge, said that he will need reinforcements, notably a central defender, a midfielder and a striker (mainly to cover for Essien, Mikel, Drogba and Kalou when they are absent on international duty for the African Cup of Nations.) And he called for Chelsea to give key players John Terry and Frank Lampard new contracts. United, on the other hand, are already diving into the transfer market, their eyes on Bayern Munich’s English international Owen Hargreaves. At £17 million (roughly €25 million), it seems that money will once again be talking in the coming close season.
by Phil Town
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