From The Touchlines

The match between Manchester United and Chelsea at the Luzhniki Stadium finished 1-1. And extra time yielded nothing else, hence, the inevitable penalty shootout.

Cristiano Ronaldo saw his spotkick saved by Petr Cech. And if you thought -that- was the end, John Terry slipped and his penalty hit the upright. Into sudden death, Edwin van der Sar pulls the most decisive save of the entire final in Moscow – going the right way and blocking Nicolas Anelka’s shot.

Arms in the air, teammates coming at you. Boy, van der Sar must have been on cloud nine, and no less relieved would be our dear friend Ronaldo.

But it was not just the Manchester United players who were going through an emotionally charged time – me – a self-professed die-hard United fan was going through a killer time managing her emotions on a night of glory to savour.

From the start of the shootout, my heart was thumping -really- madly – so mad that I thought my heart was going to burst right out from my chest XD.

But when Ronaldo missed his penalty, it appeared as though my heart just stopped beating. The excitement seemingly ebbed away. In short, my heart sank really low then.

Hoping against hope that Chelsea would miss at least -one- of their penalties, but as each a Chelsea player put the ball in the back of the net, my hopes were dashed to the ground.

Then came the decisive moment – for United -and- also Chelsea. As Terry stepped up to take the penalty, my hopes rose again, hoping that Lady Luck would smile on United and take the shootout into sudden death.

And she did. The poor skipper slipped as he struck the ball, and much to Chelsea’s agony and United’s relief (most notably Ronaldo, yes), the ball bounced off the upright. And van der Sar clenched his fists jubilantly.

My hopes skyrocketed then. When I had been sitting down watching every passing moment of the penalty shootout, the moment Terry missed his spotkick, I got up and began walking around – eventually leaning against the piano as the watched sudden death unfold.

Throughout the sudden death, I was only hoping that the United players would not disappoint. And they did not, with easy shots that Cech could not save.

On the other hand, van der Sar came close to saving Ashley Cole’s penalty, but the latter had put in just enough to ensure the ball went safely into goal.

With Anderson and Nani both converting their penalties, it was Anelka’s turn to turn on the style and ensure Chelsea remained in the hunt for the coveted Champions League trophy.

As van der Sar made his way slowly to the centre of the goal, Anelka trudged to the six-yard box to take his penalty. Stretching his hands as far wide as he could, the Dutch shot stopper braced himself for the Frenchman’s spotkick.

Anelka struck the ball, but more importantly enough, van der Sar dived the right way and parried out the former’s strike. As van der Sar clenched his fists -yet- again and celebrated, I stood in the living room – shellshocked.

But in a split second, as United players dashed from the middle of the park and embraced van der Sar, the thought finally hit home, “Hey! We’ve won the Champions League!!”

It was then I began to hop madly around in the living room. My bro, who had been watching the match in his own room, was also celebrating, though his wife slept soundly throughout XD (and so did my mom XD).

I hopped madly about for a while, while the United players in Moscow celebrated, with Ronaldo lying down with his belly to the ground, rejoicing after a nail-biting encounter that turned ugly towards the end of extra time.

As I went into my room to get my phone, and when I got out, my hands were trembling even as I searched for a fellow United fan’s number to call him. He sounded very calm and collected, in spite of all the excitement.

I was still celebrating, though I was not jumping already XD. I clenched my fists and punched the air on several occasions, revelling in a victory that everyone associated with Manchester United had been waiting for – for the past nine years.

I was also extremely happy for Paul Scholes, as he got his chance to experience the Champions League final after missing the last one in Barcelona in 1999 through suspension. And though he had a bloodied face, you could tell that -this- was a night that he would never forget.

As the trophy was hoisted by Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs – the latter having secured a record 759 appearances for United – the festive spirit was well and truly in the air.

Two words – SIMPLY AMAZING =D