| Istanbul Avenged! |
|---|
| Thursday, May 24, 2007 |
 Venue: OACA Spyro Louis Stadium, Athens Event: Champions League Final Date: 23/5/07 Time: 19.45 Score: Milan 2 - 1 Liverpool Inzaghi 45, 80 (M), Kuyt 88 (L) I have this strong feeling Milan will avenge their defeat in Istanbul 2 yrs ago. Just like how Italy avenged their Euro 2000 defeat to France during World Cup 2006. Deja Vu? No. It is all Destiny.. "This trophy was in our destiny considering everything that happened to us in Istanbul and this season." -- Carlo Ancelotti "Istanbul was a fluke. We knew that if we had played that Istanbul match a thousand times it would not have happened again. So, after tonight’s goal, we knew it would not be the same.” -- Kaka Milan had to win this match to bury the ghost of Istanbul if not they will be forever taunted by this horrible nightmare. But they cannot let revenge and anger take over their minds and blur their objective. They have had a very difficult season. They were innocently (at least that's what i think) penalised 8 points in Serie A for the Calciopoli case and were initially expelled from the Champions League. But after appeal, they were allowed to take part but haev to go thru preliminary round of qualification against Red Star Belgrade. Inzaghi was the hero from the start, scoring and helping Milan qualify for the group stages. SuperPippo was again the hero to end the season with a loud thunderous bang! "Pippo Inzaghi's brace has given Milan revenge over Liverpool with a 2-1 Champions League triumph in Athens!" -- Football Italia Before the match, I predicted a 2-0 scoreline with Inzaghi on the scoresheet. I was nearly rite if not the Kuyt's offside goal in the closing minutes. I knew in this kind of big match, Milan always has a secret weapon. It was Inzaghi. Too much focus and hype was on Kaka and Gerard and true enough, both didnt shine in this match. Kaka had a quiet game with Mascherano shadowing everywhere. However, there were glimpses of his magic when he did a Zizou "ballerina" turn to shake off Mascherano and he also provided the critical winning thru pass to Inzaghi to slot home the winner. Moment of magic from Kaka!! Sweet! So it was the veteran top poacher in Europe who stole the limelight with 2 of his most impt goals of his career. He missed the Final in 2005 and he sure made up for it in Athens 2007! “These goals cannot be like any other. I don’t forget the preliminary round goal either, as without the one I scored against Red Star Belgrade we would not have been here. One thing is for sure – this night will remain long in my memory as the best moment of my career.” -- Pippo Inzaghi Special credit also have to given to... Dida -- for making 2 very impt saves, esp. the one from Gerard. He had an erratic season but he was at his best when Milan needed him most. Nesta -- for shutting out Gerard. Many though it will be a battle between Gerard and Gattuso. However, Gerard's position meant that it was not to be. So the daunting task was given to Nesta and he was more than up to his task. Making at least 2 impt last ditch tackle to stop Gerard. Pirlo -- for orchestrating the attack from deep with sublime defence splitting passes and great distribution of the ball, controlling the pace and holding the ball well. It was his freekick that deflected off Inzaghi that lead to the 1st goal. He, too had an off season in Serie A, probably hang over from the World Cup triumph. Ambrosini -- for being the 5th defender. Always there to cover for gattuso, nesta or maldini if opponents managed to sneak pass. He missed the Final in 2005 like Inzaghi and was eager to make up for it. He was everywhere where Milan's defence leaked. An indispensible member of the team. A pity he didnt make it to World Cup 2006. I'm sure he will now. Oddo -- for terrorising the right flank. He defended well against Zenden and forced Rafa to sub out the ineffective Dutch winger. Liverpool had no answer to his quick runs down the right and timely crosses into the box. A true World Cup champ! “Before the second leg in Munich I was talking to Massimo Ambrosini and we said if we won that, then we would win the Champions League. Luckily we were right.” -- Massimo Oddo This win was Milan's 7th and Maldini's 5th. It has been the sweetest victory for me as i was tormented by the nightmare of Istanbul for 2 yrs. It was a triumph for both Milan and Italy! "There were three English semi-finalists this season, but it was a Serie A club that took the silverware less than a year after Italy won the World Cup. Milan have won tonight for the club and for Italy. This is a great achievement.” -- Silvio Berlusconi (Warning: the following text contains coarse and adult language and may not be suitable for all audiences. Read at own risk.) Finally all those Liverpool m*th*r f**kers can f**king shut their ch**by* mouths! I will f**king taunt them like how they f**king repeatedly remind me of Istanbul 2005. I f**king told u Milan's gonna take rvenge and we f**king well did! HAHA!! suckers!! Take that, all you Liverpool m*th*r f**kers! HA! I still can remember that f**king smug on that f**king Gerard's l*n j*ao face. It makes me so f**king happy to see his sad loser face last nite. You were lucky that we gave u one trophy in 2005, now it's payback time! In your f**king face, Gerard!! I have endured this discrimintaion for very long le. Now it's time to let everything out. Singapore's press is so biased! Today's newpaper had no pic of Milan or Maldini lifting the trophy or the whole team celebrating. Cover page was f**king loser Gerard's pic and inside was all on how f**king Liver-POO lost and miss and not how Milan won. There were more pics on Liver-POO than Milan. What the f**k is this? Isn't it more right to write on the victorious team than on the losing team? U all f**king know why? Cuz s'pore football fans are all EPL f**kers! They think EPL is the best league in the world. *PTUI* They have 3 semi-finalists in Champs League. so what? In the end, an Italian club won! Take that, all you EPL fans. And i'm f**king pissed that cable stopped showing live Serie A matches a few years back. KNN! I paid f**king $$$ for it ok! Give me Serie A back! And every week, there will be many many pages of EPL news and yet only 1 or 2 page of other European League news. WTF!! EPL is all hype, commercialised and little substance. In their own league, they looked like powerhouses but against Spanish and Italian clubs, they look like pussycats! I really hope somebody or some passionate italian football fan can do something abt it. I wish i can be a columnist for italian football but i cant write for nuts and i admit i'm a bit biased. haha. Anyway, I hope by now everyone will give Italian football or Calcio its due respect. Cuz the fact is we are the World Champions and Champions League winners. “That’ll teach those who say Italian football is in crisis! In one year we have won the World Cup and the Champions League. Some crisis, eh?” -- Gennaro Gattuso quotes and pic taken from www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia |
| "save the cheerleader... save the world." |
| pUkEd by kEv @ 4:41 PM |
| ~ pray ~ |
| Friday, May 18, 2007 |
| ...that the situation will be not as bad as expected. ...that it's just a scare and it will go away soon. ...that i'm strong enough to make it go away. ...that everything will turn out alrite. i need some peace and assurance. help me. ~ pray ~ |
| "save the cheerleader... save the world." |
| pUkEd by kEv @ 4:52 PM |
| Balls to you! |
| Sunday, May 13, 2007 |
| On thurs, i played basketball at the Community Centre formerly known as Hong Kah West CC. It's now known as Jurong Spring CC. It's been a good 10 years since i last stepped onto the court there. A lot has changed over the decade. The cheap drinks minimart has finally closed down and it's now a zi char coffeeshop. They were selling canned drinks at 60 cents since we were in sec sch even til jc or army. I guess the shop owner doesnt have a clue about inflation or gst. I felt good to be there playing basketball again. Miss the crazy sec sch days. I could still remember there's a day where it was pouring, and we couldnt play ball so we decided to play catching in the whole building! It was damn fun. On a particular, we also probably recorded the largest group gathering in that CC. There were 20+ of us there! Anyway, basketball was fun on thurs. It's been ages since i played like that. Competitive yet fun and friendly. Played with the NTU guys which mainly consists of SAJC guys and a few JJC guys. How i wish we could play regularly like that. And yes, i was rusty. Lost my shooting skills and agility. Need to play more to get in shape. haha. If there's one thing i regret regarding basketball, it would be my O levels. During my 1st 3 months in ACJC, i was in the basketball team. The coach was selecting players for the competitive team and i was shortlisted. I guess the coach did wanted me cuz he was asking me to shoot 3 pointers while others were shooting 2 pointers. But sadly, when my O levels were out, i did badly and could only get a place in Commerce stream in ACJC. choosing studies over dream/hobby/ECA, i chose studies cuz i think i would do better in Science. Off i went to JJC. But i didnt try for the school team cuz on one hand, i felt i couldnt make the cut and secondly my heart was still with ACJC. My bball mates and coach there made me felt like home and i nv wanted to play for another team. So my chance to play competitive bball was over... It was not until NUS that i finally had the chance to play competitively. I tried 3 times for my faculty's team, and on the 3rd try, god finally answer my prayer. I got into the team! Wearing SoC No.18, the feeling was undescribable and played my hearts out like a new born person. Finally my dream was fulfilled... =)  |
| "save the cheerleader... save the world." |
| pUkEd by kEv @ 8:43 PM |
| My Athens/Santorini Trip! |
| Wednesday, May 09, 2007 |
Been away for the last 6 days and here's where i've been. =)  |
| "save the cheerleader... save the world." |
| pUkEd by kEv @ 5:08 PM |