Manchester United were crowned kings of Europe for the third time on Wednesday when they
beat Chelsea 6-5 on penalties after a breathless all-English Champions League final had finished
1-1 after extra time.
United's 37-year-old goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, appearing in his third final 13 years after his
first with Ajax Amsterdam, saved the decisive spot kick from substitute Nicolas Anelka.
The victory completed a famous double for the Old Trafford team who pipped Chelsea to the
Premier League title 10 days ago.
It was an emotional triumph for United, coming 50 years after the Munich air disaster, and there
was a huge cheer for one of the survivors, Bobby Charlton, when he joined the team at the
presentation of the trophy he lifted in 1968 before Alex Ferguson led the team to a second
success in 1999.
"We've had fate on our side all season and I felt that fate played its hand with John Terry
slipping," Ferguson said of the Chelsea captain's penalty miss.
John Terry
It was a heartbreaking night for Terry, who had the chance to take the trophy to Stamford Bridge
for the first time but sent what would have been the winning penalty against the outside of the
post.
"John Terry's a man's man, not many centre halves will stand up and say I will take the last
penalty because everybody knows that's the thing it can hang on," said Frank Lampard, whose
equalizer had cancelled out Cristiano Ronaldo's opener.
Chelsea maintained their momentum and Lampard scooped a shot against the bar within four
minutes of the restart but they needed Terry to deny Giggs a fairytale goal by heading the
winger's shot over the bar with Cech beaten.
As the clock ticked down -- towards 2am local time -- tempers boiled over and Drogba was sent
off for slapping Nemanja Vidic.
The shootout first went Chelsea's way as Ronaldo, who had missed a penalty early in the
semi-final against Barcelona, saw his effort saved. Ballack, Juliano Belletti, Lampard and Ashley Cole all scored for Chelsea but when Terry failed
the momentum shifted.
Anderson and Giggs netted for United and, although Salomon Kalou was on target for Chelsea,
Van der Sar blocked Anelka's effort to secure the giant silver trophy once again.
Source: Reuters
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