Champions League semi-final clash between Chelsea and Barcelona was one of the most controversial ones in the history of the competition, namely the second leg at Stamford Bridge. The Blues were very close to eliminating Barcelona, having taken the lead through Michael Essien but the Catalans scored the equalizer deep into the injury time and thus progressed to the final on away goals. Majority of Chelsea players surrounded referee Tom Ovrebo after the final whistle as according to them he failed to award as much as four penalties to the home side. Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack were leading the protests and they will definitely receive punishment for their actions but one player acted like a true professional and congratulated Barcelona players after the match.
You can probably guess who that player was, as he’s got all the qualities required for a great player and above all a phenomenal person. Captain John Terry, the same one who missed the decisive penalty in the last season’s final against Manchester United, was probably having the most difficult time of his life (for the second time) but he walked to the visiting dressing room and congratulated Barca players, one by one. He acted like a true gentleman and was awarded for his act by the loud applause. The Catalans even sang his name when he was walking out and that is something that Terry completely deserved. It took a lot more courage to do what Terry has done than to attack the referee Ovrebo, who, I have to say, did make a lot of mistakes on the day and most of them were at Chelsea’s expense. It is definitely UEFA’s fault for sending such an inexperienced ref to officiate one high-profile match but the damage is done and nothing can change that.
I have absolutely no doubts that Barcelona deserve to play in the final, maybe not judging by the performance against Chelsea, but looking at the entire campaign. Nevertheless, if Chelsea had gone through that, too, would not have been undeserved but the Blues will have to watch another final on the TV. Anyhow, all their fans should be proud to have a captain like John Terry, who sets a real example both on and off the pitch.
Popularity: 12% [?]
agreed about terry.
drogba is a diving punk and the 25min foul could have gone both way but his reputation was the deciding factor in deciding it was a dive.
ballack is a national team captain and should be embarassed he behaved like Podbolski.
the other player I was impressed was Abidal who had all the reason in the world to freak out.
there were two clear cut fouls: the piche hand ball and the dive by Anelka about 3 ft away from the Barcelona player who will now miss the final because of this horrific call.
Its interesting that the english speaking media has totally omitted the fact that Barcelona was playing with 10 men from the 65min on.