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milan vs man united - post match
hey, it's good to be back after being on the road for eight days in sabah and labuan.
so, this is my two cents about the match:-
right after the final whistle, i think about 5am , i've received so many messages from lots of people and from as far as indonesia. it surprised me that a lot of people do care about my love affair with football in general and milan specifically. even my new housemate who is an avid chelsea fan send a word of congratulation. really guys, you are all the best.
not to mention a call from a long lost friend at 1.00 am, a couple of hours before the milan's game. i was asleep at the time, a bit disoriented but can still recognised the voice. he was asking me whether milan had the chance to beat man united and i told him the answer was obvious, of course milan would win. i was curious really, he is after all a fan of the gunners.
of all the smses, the message from sidah forced me to face the reality of the milan's win. her words were simple, she said " siti, you have to choose because you cannot laugh and cry at the same time". my answer was why not, been there, done that.
you know in my previous post about history repeating itself, i left another possibility in which milan would meet liverpool in the final again. i dont want to think about that, at least not yet.
milan vs man united - semi final CL second leg
i watched the milan vs man united game alone in a room located at about 5,000 feet above sea level. oh yes, i was in kundasang, at a lovely resort that faces mount kinabalu.
it was cold, at least 19 degree celcius i think, and there i was covered almost to my neck with a thick blanket but i could still feel my body shaking. i have to admit i was scared to death. there were thousands of butterflies in my stomach and my heart felt like it was going to burst, such was the tension.
anyway, to tell you the truth, i wasnt all that confident about milan winning the game knowing that man united led the semi finals by 3 to milan's 2. in the first leg, milan had so many opportunities to score goals but their inability to take these chances was a fundamental flaw in this milan's side. a loss of concentration proved fatal in the dying minute as rooney shot home the winner and broke my heart. how i sufferred, seriously. the call from my gym trainer ( a man u fan, obviously) accompanied by his devilish laughter really sucks, i tell you.
in the second leg, class, that is what milan really is. a classy, awe-inspiring team that out-class and outplayed man united players. fine, the mu fans might want to argue that they had an injury crisis in their defensive lines but in actual, it was really the battle of the midfielders and the milan midfielders won the battle hands down. i've never seen the team so calm and composed like at last week's second semi finals. seriously. man united players may be more physical, more mobile but they were no match for the rossonerri's superior techniques. the fine ball control, the exquisite passing and the impenetrable defence by the milan players made the man united players look ordinary.
i think it helps that none of the milan players were in-awed with christiano ronaldo or even rooney. i mean if you watched epl, you could see players from the lesser clubs were blinded by ronaldo's so called skills. they seems afraid of him and rooney thus giving the duos so much spaces.
IMHO, milan was not worried because they believed that they have a far more skillful player than ronaldo and rooney combined and the player need no introduction, yes it is none other than KAKA. you know, last March, i spent almost an hour fighting with a certain Man United fan i met at the gym about Kaka vs Ronaldo. our friendly fight got so out of control, that one of the regulars at the gym came to intervene. both of us were actually arguing about who's the best player in the current season and he was adamant that ronaldo was the best but i told him it was Kaka who was far more superior. and to dear farid, now you know who is the best already, right!
intellegence footballing and great fighting spirit instigated by none other than gattuso himself allowed milan to dominate in the middle of the field. all these years, ambrosini had always been my scapegoat. i've always find fault in his play and doubtful of his skill and abilities. but wearing the captain armband that night, he made his presence felt. amidst the chaotic "middle field" he reigned supreme above the much more talented scholes and giggs even. i am proud of massimo ambrosini. he earned his place in milan's first eleven.
Kaka, what can you say about him really. no word can describe his balance skill and the maturity that he possessed. for such a young player, he has been inspirational for his much older teammates. he is the driving force for the milan camp.
clarence seedorf should be applauded for his palpable desire to help milan won the game. he who had won the champions league trophy with three different clubs still has the hunger to win and milan was lucky to have him in the squad. fans always said that seedorf's form shaped the whole milan way of playing. when he was in top form, no team can stop milan and we thank God that he's in top form during that night at the san siro.
hey, did you know that it was nesta's deliberate passing to seedorf that instigated the first goal. nesta had kicked the ball straight to seedorf who then passed it to Kaka and the rest they said was history. nesta's simple blocked and tackle or even the well read "toe pokes" were all a brilliant, calculated move. kaladze was back man! and im so glad to see him perform well after going through so many injuries and personal problem. i think he was more focused after they had found the body of his brother, who was a victim of a kidnapping back in his homeland. marek and oddo have become a great combination in both right and left flanks of the milan's defence. kudos to them.
pirlo as usual had perfect timing. he knows when to stop, when to pass and when to defense. a very industrious player, he was. both he and gattuso had stopped ronaldo countless time in the middle of the field.
dida may be the weakest link but he has the full support of the milan fans and that was no small feat. milan fans have class just like their team. you could hear the fans screaming his name: Dida!Dida! what a night eh!
i was on my knee when i saw gilardino's solo running towards the man united goal. my only thought at the time was, please Gila, please dont dissapoint us this time. and he didnt. he had finally exorcised his ghost.
we had won a great battle but it isnt over yet. no matter what is the outcome of the final showdown in athens, i will always love both clubs. as i told sidah, i've been there and done that. and i found that i could cry and laugh at the same time.
i dont want to think about the final yet. for the time being let me savour the great victory of both my teams against their great opponents.
p/s: the reason i didnt write about liv-chelsea second league game was because i didnt watch the game. the only match i manage to watch was the milan vs mu during my eight-day trip to Sabah and Labuan.
forza both teams! see you in athens
last modified May 11, 2007 at 2:15
I watch match that nite...i was so happy when Milan transhed Mankey United 3-0 into the dustbin (tempat paling layak utk diaorg). Kaka was so absolutely power and inzhagi is unsung hero.
...tahniah! tahniah! semoga berjaya masa final nanti. tapi dengan berat hati nak cakap yang saya 'terpaksa' sokong Liverpool masa final nanti 
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