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but in seriousness...the game could have gone either way and I'm still confused with Giggs' effort being disallowed minutes before.
A real snore-fest of a 1st half, what nonsense. Then came a better but still stale second half and then ET and all looked set for penalties and Chelsea took the typical goal-from-nowhere and won the cup 1-0
Hey credit to them and congrats to Chelsea, any side could have won today, but as a United fan I am abhorred by how we started the game and how players like Giggs, Carrick, Brown, Heinze, Fletcher, and of course Ronaldo let us down. Rooney, Vidic and Rio, Scholes (showed why he still is the best midfielder in England with his movement and passing vision) played a superb game but were let down by their colleagues.
Call it fatigue, call it hard luck, call it whatever you want. But I was disappointed today, Chelsea play like they normally do - wearing the opponents down and relying on counter-attacks - and they did their bit although it wasnt a convincing or dominant performance by them either.
But then again, congrats to Chelsea for the FA Cup.
I am still proud of the Red Devils for what they did and achieved all season with a league winners as well as reaching the CL semis.
but in seriousness...the game could have gone either way and I'm still confused with Giggs' effort being disallowed minutes before.
A real snore-fest of a 1st half, what nonsense. Then came a better but still stale second half and then ET and all looked set for penalties and Chelsea took the typical goal-from-nowhere and won the cup 1-0
Hey credit to them and congrats to Chelsea, any side could have won today, but as a United fan I am abhorred by how we started the game and how players like Giggs, Carrick, Brown, Heinze, Fletcher, and of course Ronaldo let us down. Rooney, Vidic and Rio, Scholes (showed why he still is the best midfielder in England with his movement and passing vision) played a superb game but were let down by their colleagues.
Call it fatigue, call it hard luck, call it whatever you want. But I was disappointed today, Chelsea play like they normally do - wearing the opponents down and relying on counter-attacks - and they did their bit although it wasnt a convincing or dominant performance by them either.
But then again, congrats to Chelsea for the FA Cup.
I am still proud of the Red Devils for what they did and achieved all season with a league winners as well as reaching the CL semis.
it really could have gone either way thats true, but chelsea was not playing bad, they threatened the goal at alot of different moments
gigg's effort was disallowed because the ball crossed the line when giggs follow up slide slid into the goalie and pushed the ball over the line
and the first half was real garbage, really reaaaaaaalyy boring..dissapointing considering it was chelsea-manu
it really could have gone either way thats true, but chelsea was not playing bad, they threatened the goal at alot of different moments
gigg's effort was disallowed because the ball crossed the line when giggs follow up slide slid into the goalie and pushed the ball over the line
and the first half was real garbage, really reaaaaaaalyy boring..dissapointing considering it was chelsea-manu
yeah I guess so...it was strange that Giggs effort, then again a foul wasnt given by the ref for that so that meant it was in fact a goal and that wasnt given either...weird
that said United did create a few more chances with the amount of offsides, and Scholes' passing and Rooney's hard running. But it was the final ball and finishing that let us down. Hey Chelsea knew what they had to do and since United didnt score their plan was still there.
Owen Hargreaves was born on 20th January 1981 in Calgary, Alberta, the youngest of three children born to Margaret and Colin Hargreaves, who had recently emigrated to Canada from the UK. Dad Colin had been a youth player with Bolton Wanderers and also played for Calgary Kickers in the Canadian Soccer League. Owen's eldest brother, Darren, represented Canada at youth level, but Owen, who joined Calgary Foothills as a youngster, got few opportunities to develop his talent at the Alberta provincial or Canadian youth levels, so moved to Bayern Munich on 1st July 1997, at the age of sixteen. He played in Bayern's Under-19 team for two-and-a-half years, and spent a further six months with the Amateur team. Then on 12th August 2000, Hargreaves made his Bundesliga debut as an 83rd minute substitute for Carsten Jancker. A month later came his first start, against SpVgg Unterhaching, and by the end of that season Bayern were Bundesliga champions and winners of the Uefa Champions League.
Hargreaves, whose mother is Welsh, was eligible to play international football for any of the four British nations or for Canada, and could also have waited a little longer to qualify for Germany under residency rules. But he opted for the country of his father, and on 31st August 2000, England under-21 manager Howard Wilkinson called up the 19-year-old Bayern midfielder for the match against Georgia at Middlesbrough, which England won 6-1.
Claim To Fame
During his first season in the Bayern Munich first team, his displays in the Champions League semi final against Real Madrid's experienced stars like Luis Figo and Roberto Carlos made people sit up and take notice. He became one of only two English players to win a Champions League medal with a non-English club, the other being Steve McManaman, who won two with Real Madrid.
When Hargreaves made his full international debut on 15th August 2001 against the Netherlands at White Hart Lane, he became the first (and so far only) England international neither to have lived in England nor to have played club football there.
In 2001 he was named European Under-21 Player of the Year.
Technical Skills
Hargreaves is an accomplished defensive midfielder who can also play as a defender. A tough tackler blessed with pace, his game is based on high energy and stamina, and his status as one of Europe's top holding midfielders makes him an attractive proposition for Manchester United, who have struggled to fill that position satisfactorily since Roy Keane left Old Trafford. While it is debatable whether Hargreaves has been as influential at Bayern as Keane was at United, Patrick Vieira was at Arsenal or Claude Makelele was at Real Madrid and Chelsea, there is no doubt that Hargreaves occupies a pivotal role and, at 26, still has time on his side. His versatility and adaptability (both technically and culturally) should help him make the transition to the English League game.
National Team
Hargreaves was the only player from outside the Premier League to be selected for England's 2002 FIFA World Cup squad, and was also included in the Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006 squads. In the latter tournament he was one of England's few successes, named man of the match in the quarter final against Portugal (where he scored England's only penalty in the shoot-out) and voted England Player of the Year and England Player of the World Cup in official FA polls. He was the first to win both accolades in the same year.
Hargreaves, who with Bayern won one Champions League, one Intercontinental Cup, four Bundesliga titles, three German Cups and one League Cup in 210 appearances (10 goals), has so far won 39 caps for his country.
Did You Know?
Images of Owen Hargreaves are currently displayed on 220 posters strategically located throughout the London Underground tube network, as he is promoting holidays in Germany in an advertising campaign on behalf of the German National Tourist Office, Air Berlin, Lufthansa, Deutsche Bahn and the German Embassy.
On the poster, Hargreaves is quoted as saying: ‘I'm a big fan of Germany - except when we're playing against them.’ Owen was the ideal choice for the people in charge of the campaign. The director of the German National Tourist Office in London said Hargreaves is “not only one of the currently most well-known English persons of public interest in Germany, but as a young man with an international background living in Munich he also adds to the contemporary image of Germany and appeals to a broad audience.”
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