Monday, May 19, 2008

UEFA Champions League Final 1999

(including English version)

8 tahun yang lalu di Nou Camp, menjadi saat terindah bagi seluruh fans Manchester United di seluruh dunia. 2 gol dari Sheringham dan 20 Legend alias Solskjaer pada masa injury time paling dramatis membuat Manchester United meraih treble. Manchester United menjadi satu-satunya tim dari liga top eropa yang pernah memenang
kan treble, dan Sir Alex Ferguson diberi gelar bangsawan.

Pertandingan dimainkan di Nou Camp, Barcelona, pada tanggal 26 Mei 1999. Kedua tim yang bertanding mengincar treble. Manchester United telah memenangkan gelar Premier League dan F.A. Cup, dan Bayern Munich telah memenangkan Bundesliga dan German Cup 2 minggu setelah pertandingan ini. Wasit Pierluigi Collina menyatakan pertandingan ini sebagai pertandingan paling diingat sepanjang karirnya, dikarenakan oleh 'auman singa' dari massa di akhir pertandingan.

Jalannya Pertandingan

Babak Pertama
Pada menit keenam, secara ceroboh, Ronny Johnsen melanggar penyerang Bayern, Carsten Jancker, tepat di luar kotak penalty dan Mario Basler mengeksekusikan tendangan bebas rendah tepat di sebelah pagar United dan membuat timnya unggul. Berlawanan dengan keyakinan publik, sebenarnya tendangan bebas tersebut tidak terpantul, tapi memang alur bolanya aneh. Meskipun mengawali dengan buruk, United mulai mendominasi jalannya pertandingan tetapi tetap gagal membuat kesempatan emas. United terlihat kesulitan karena kehilangan 2 orang jendral lapangan tengahnya, Paul Scholes dan Roy Keane, karena akumulasi kartu. Pertahanan Munich kuat dan teratur, terlihat pada saat usaha Andy Cole dari jarak dekat langsung ditutup oleh 3 orang bek. Munich mulai semakin berbahaya saat serangan balik daripada permainan posssesion United, Jancker berkali-kali mengetes lini belakang United dengan lari yang bagus, walaupun beberapa kali tertangkap offside. Cole sekali lagi mendapatkan kesempatan di dalam kotak penalty, tapi kiper Munich, Oliver Kahn, dengan sigap meninju bola. Saat babak pertama sudah mau berakhir, Giggs bermain di sisi kanan dan menyundul bola hasil umpan silang Cole, tapi bola masih terlalu lemah.

Babak Kedua
Munich memulai babak kedua dengan mood yang baik dengan Jacker membuat Schmeichel harus berjuang sejak menit pertama. Basler memantapkan dirinya sebagai pemain Munich yang paling berbahaya, dengan melepaskan tembakan dari jarak 30 yard dan mengumpan ke Markus Babbel di area berbahaya. Kesempatan terbaik United muncul pada saat Giggs menumpan silang kepada Jesper Blomqvist yang hanya bisa mengenai tiang setelah usaha kerasnya menyambar bola. Kesempatan lain bagi Basler membuat Alex Ferguson memasukan Teddy Sheringham untuk mengambil kontrol permainan. Pelatih Bayern, Ottmar Hitzfeld merespon dengan memasang Mehmet Scholl yang langsung membuat umpan manis ke arah Stefan Effenberg yang dilanjutkan dengan tendangan jarak jauh yang melebar. Schmeichel membuat kans United tetap terjaga saat menepis tipis tendangan lob Effenberg sehingga mengenai tiang atas dan kembali ke pelukan Schmeichel. Saat kemenangan terlihat berat buat United, Ferguson memasukan Solskjaer saat pertandingan sisa 10 menit. Solskjaer langsung membuat Kahn harus menjatuhkan badannya demi menyelamatkan gawangnya dari sundulan Solskjaer-kesempatan terbaik United sepanjang pertandingan. Semenit kemudian, Munich gagal mengamankan tropi setelah tendangan overhead dari Jancker mengenai tiang gawang - padahal Shcmeichel sudah mati langkah. Seiring dengan sisa lima menit waktu, kedua pemain pengganti United membuat Kahn harus berjuang ekstra keras dari tendangan voli Sheringham dan sundulan Solskjaer.

Injury Time
United mendapatkan tendangan sudut saat panitia pertandingan mengumumkan tiga menit waktu injury time, dan dalam usahanya menyamakan kedudukan, Schmeichel maju ke kotak penalty Munich. Saat itu juga, komentator dari ITV, CLive Tyldesley mengatakan "Can Manchester United score? They always score! - bisakah Manchester United mencetak gol (saat ini)? mereka selalu mencetak gol!". Beckham menendang melewati atas Schmeichel, Yorke menendangnya ke arah kerumunan, dan setelah Thorsten Fink gagal menyapu bola dengan baik, bola yang jatuh ke kaki Giggs langsung ditendang. Tendangan kaki kananya lemah dan tidak terarah, tetapi mengarah ke Sheringham yang langsung melanjutkannya dengan kaki kanannya dan gol tercipta. TErtinggal hampir di sepanjang pertandingan, United memaksa Munich untuk melakukan babak perpanjangan, dengan Tyldesley berkata "Name on the trophy!"

Kurang dari 30 detik setelah kick-off, United mendapatkan tendangan sudut lagi, tetapi dengan Schmeichel yang tidak maju kali ini. Beckham menendang bola dan disundul oleh Sheringham ke arah bawah yang langsung disambar lagi oleh Solskjaer ke atas dan United memimpin pertandingan secara menakjubkan. Solskjaer langsung merayakan golnya dengan cara meluncur dengan posisi berlutut, dan menirukan selebrasi gol Basler sebelum dikerumuni oleh pemain-pemain United yang ada di lapangan dan cadangan, serta para staff. Schmeichel, di dalam kotak penalty, melakukan gerakan meroda. Komentar Tyldesley tentang gol Sheringham yang terkenal dikalangan Fans United "Beckham... into Sheringham... and Solskjaer has won it!- Beckham... menuju Sheringham... dan Solskjaer memenangkannya!" dan Tyldesley melanjutkannya dengan berkata "Manchester United have reached the Promised Land- Manchester United telah mencapai tanah yang dijanjikan (menurut kitab Hebrew -kitab suci yahudi-, Promised Land adalah tanah yang dijanjikan oleh YHWH lebih dari 3000 tahun yang lalu kepada keturunan Abraham).

Permainan dimulai kembali, tetapi terlihat pemain Munich sudah tidak mampu melanjutkan pertadingan (saking sedihnya/kecewa) sampai wasit Pierluigi Collina harus menggiring mereka ke lapangan. Mereka terkejut karena harus kehilangan tropi yang mereka menangkan hanya semenit (beberapa kembang api sudah dinyalakan oleh fans Munich dan pita-pita bernuansa Bayern Munich sudah diikatkan ke tropi untuk persiapan selebrasi) sebelum pertandingan usai. United mempertahankan keunggulannya dan mendapatkan tropi Champions League keduanya. Samuel Kuffour menangis setelah pertandingan usai, bahkan Carsten Jancker yang besarpun roboh dalam kesedihan yang mendalam. Kamera menangkap ekspresi tidak percaya dari muka Lothar Matthaus setelah gol kedua United. Ia baru masuk saat sisa waktu empat menit, dan Champions League adalah tropi yang tidak pernah ia menangkan sepanjang karirnya. Spontan Tyldesley langsung mengatakan "apa yang ada di pikiran Lothar Matthaus?"


Saat tropi diserahkan ke Manchester United, kapten pada malam itu, Peter Schmeichel, dimana pertandingan ini merupakan pertandingan terakhirnya bagi Manchester United, dan manager Alex Ferguson mengangkatnya bersama.




English Version
8 years ago, at Nou Camp, that time was the best moment for all Manchester United fans around the world. 2 goals from Sheringham and 20 Legend a.k.a Solskjaer at the most dramatic injury time secure the treble. Manchester United becoming the only one team from european top league to win the treble, and Sir Alex Ferguson knighted.

The match was played at Camp Nou, Barcelona, on 26 may 1999. Both team was aiming for the treble after Manchester United had already won Premiership and F.A. Cup, and Bayern Munich had already won Bundesliga and German Cup two weeks after UCL Final. Referee Pierluigi Collina has cited it as one of the most memorable matches of his career, due to the "lion's roar" from the crowd at the end of the game.


Match Summary

First Half
Six minutes into the match, Ronny Johnsen clumsily fouled Bayern striker Carsten Jancker just outside the area, and Mario Basler duly swept home a low free kick around the United wall to hand his team the lead. Contrary to popular belief, the free kick was not a deflection, but rather swerved marvellously into Peter Schmeichel's left hand corner. Despite the bad start, United began to dominate possession but failed to create any clear cut chances despite David Beckham's tireless running. They seemed to be badly missing influential midfielders Paul Scholes and Roy Keane, both of whom were suspended for the final. The German defence remained strong and well organised, as Andy Cole found out when his close-range effort was quickly closed down by three defenders. As Bayern began to look increasingly more dangerous on the counter-attack than their opponents did in possession, Jancker repeatedly tested the United back four with a number of clever runs, some of which were flagged offside. Cole once again found himself with a chance in the Bayern box, but keeper Oliver Kahn came hurtling out of his goal to punch the ball to safety. At the other end, Basler came close with another free kick before Alexander Zickler sent a shot just wide from the edge of the box. As half time approached, United winger Ryan Giggs, playing out of position on the right, sent a weak header towards Kahn from a Cole cross, but that was as close as they were to come to a goal in the first half.

Second Half
The German team started the second half in a more positive mood with Jancker forcing a save from Schmeichel in the first minute of the restart. Basler was proving to be Bayern's most dangerous player, first firing a thirty-yard shot towards goal and then setting up a header for Markus Babbel, who missed the ball entirely. United put together their best move of the match so far on fifty-five minutes when, after a healthy period of possession, Giggs sent in a cross towards Jesper Blomqvist who could only knock the ball over the bar after a desperate stretch. Another chance for Basler prompted United manager Alex Ferguson to bring on striker Teddy Sheringham to try and regain control of the game. Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld responded with a substitution of his own, bringing on Mehmet Scholl, who immediately set up Stefan Effenberg for a long-range blast which flashed wide. Schmeichel kept his side in the game when tipping another Effenberg shot over the bar after seventy-five minutes. Scholl then almost scored from a delicate twenty yard chip after a mesmerising run from Basler, but the ball bounced back off the post and into the arms of a relieved Schmeichel. With the game seemingly drifting away from the English side, Ferguson introduced striker Ole Gunnar Solskjær with ten minutes remaining. The substitute immediately forced Kahn into a diving save with a header; the closest United had come to scoring all game. A minute later, Bayern missed a chance to secure the trophy when an overhead kick from Jancker crashed off the crossbar, leaving Schmeichel helpless once again. As the game crept into the last five minutes, United's two substitutes forced Kahn into more saves, firstly through a Sheringham volley and then from another Solskjær header.

Injury Time

United won a corner just as the fourth official indicated a three minute injury time period, and in a last ditch attempt at an equaliser, Peter Schmeichel ventured up to Bayern's penalty area. At this point, ITV commentator Clive Tyldesley asked: "Can Manchester United score? They always score!".Beckham flighted the corner in just over Schmeichel's head, Dwight Yorke put the ball back towards the crowded area, and after Thorsten Fink failed to clear sufficiently, the ball arrived at the feet of Ryan Giggs on the edge of the area. His right-footed snap-shot was weak and poorly struck, but it went straight to Sheringham, who swiped at the shot with his right foot, and nestled the ball in the bottom corner of the net. It looked as if, having been behind for most of the match, United had forced extra time, with Tyldesley declaring "Name on the trophy!".

Less than 30 seconds after the subsequent kick-off, United forced another corner, but Schmeichel stayed in his penalty area this time. Beckham again swung the corner in, which was headed downwards by Sheringham. Solskjær shot out a foot and poked the ball into the roof of the Bayern goal for United to take an astonishing lead. Solskjær celebrated by sliding on his knees, mimicking Basler's earlier celebration, before quickly being mobbed by the United players, substitutes and coaching staff. Schmeichel, in his own penalty area, famously cartwheeled with glee. Tyldesley's commentary on Solskjær's goal is famous among Manchester United fans for its direct nature: "Beckham... into Sheringham... and Solskjær has won it!" Tyldesley again followed this with the exclamation, "Manchester United have reached the Promised Land."

The game restarted, but many Bayern players were virtually unable to continue and needed the assistance of referee Pierluigi Collina to drag themselves off the ground. They were stunned to have lost a game they had thought won just minutes before (several celebratory flares had already been ignited by the Munich fans moments before United equalised, and Bayern Munich ribbons had already been secured to the trophy itself in preparation for the presentation ceremony). United held onto their lead to record their second European Cup title. Samuel Kuffour memorably broke out in tears after the game, beating the floor in despair, and even the giant Carsten Jancker had collapsed in anguish. The television cameras also showed the expression of sheer disbelief on Lothar Matthäus's face after United's second goal went in. He had been substituted with just four minutes remaining, and the European Cup was the only major trophy he had failed to win during his career. This led Clive Tyldesley to say: "What must Lothar Matthäus be thinking?".

When the trophy was presented to Manchester United, the captain on the night, Peter Schmeichel, who had just finished his final match for the club, and manager Alex Ferguson raised the trophy together.



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