My foray into football fever

(After severe suggestions from two die-hard Manchester United fans, i've decided to acknowledge their opinions and make the appropriate changes lest they murder me.)

Football fever went to an all time high yesterday as people laid in frenzied anticipation of the UEFA Champions League match between Manchester United and Chelsea. My very recent advent into football craze left me confused as to which team I should support, but I ended up convincing myself to watch my first full match with an unbiased mind. And so when the match commenced at 12:15a.m. I dragged myself up from a peaceful sleep and readied myself to watch the ‘battle’.
The first few minutes saw both the teams struggling to get possession of the ball. The ‘excitement’ began when Scholes rammed into a Chelsea player and got his nose broken. Six minutes later the Man Utd fans got to exercise their lungs in enthusiastic cheering as Ronaldo scored a shot worthy of every praise it got. It was now 1-0 to Man Utd.
The game continued with a few more jolts of anticipation as Chelsea strived to catch up with their rivals. In the 34th minute, Manu Utd took a double attempt at the goal but the kick by Tevez failed to give them a two-nil. The stadium was jam packed and there were pleasant choruses of support for both the teams. Chelsea fans had their prayers answered at the 45th minute when Lampard shot a well-timed and well-placed goal; now placing Chelsea head-to-head with Man Utd. The score now stood at 1-1. Within two minutes of Chelsea’s goal, half time was declared; speculation ran high amongst everyone as to the outcome of the game.

The second half saw many injuries and fumbles; Makelele got into a brawl with Tevez, Malouda missed a goal by tripping over his own feet. Tension soared high as the game moved on to become fiercer by the minute. Drogba of Chelsea narrowly missed a goal as the ball hit the goal post. A few minutes later he gave the Chelsea fans something to groan about as he was given a red card for his clash with Vidic.
By the end of extra time both the teams stood at one goal each and they were given penalty kicks. Both the teams managed to score until Ronaldo shocked the world by missing a goal. Prospects looked pretty bleak for Man Utd at the time and it was not until Terry of Chelsea also lost one that the anticipation rose again. But it was a hard day for Chelsea as they missed another kick and the stadium erupted with cheers for the red devils. Chelsea was left to brace themselves as Man Utd celebrated this legendary victory in their close shave with the London team.
Cristiano Ronaldo was by far the best player on the field. His amazing footwork left me wondering how his feet coordinated with the rest of his body; his dodging and dribbling were so perfect that I wouldn’t have been surprised if a rival was apprehensive to face him when he had the ball in his possession.
I also realized that the match would have been more fun had I been watching as a supporter of one particular team. After all, it’s a separate kind of joy to ooh and aah at the hits and misses of one’s beloved team. But in the end, it was worth staying awake to watch Manchester United kick their way to glory and become the UEFA Champions.