FA Cup: seven times a champion

By Emerald Gao
Written on May 13, 2006

Pepe Reina said something really elegant after the match: "Goalkeepers have to live in a small line between mistakes and saves." And today was consummate proof of that. Being a goalkeeper means one slip up could force your teammates to work twice as hard, but at the same time, one outstretched hand could save the day. And sometimes, if the world is bizarre enough, both can happen in one match.

Before the game, one forum joker predicted that the score would be 3-3 at the end of extra time, with PKs deciding the winner, and nobody really took him seriously. He might be laughing now, but I hope he had to suffer through cold sweats, weakened knees, and panic attacks just like the rest of us. Surely I can't be the only one who was chewing on the arm of my chair and the edge of my desk and the wires on my computer? Surely I wasn't the only one hyperventilating and feeling like the world had just begun and ended all in a second, all in my mind? Surely I wasn't the only one who wondered WHAT HORRIBLE TV DRAMA NIGHTMARE ARE WE LIVING IN?

The resemblances to Istanbul are simply uncanny: a lackluster first half from Liverpool, a tremendous fightback to restore parity in the scoreline, a last-gasp hero's save by the Liverpool goalkeeper to deny West Ham a surefire game winner, and finally, the penalty shoot-out triumph.

Okay, so the FA Cup isn't the Champions League, and West Ham is most definitely not AC Milan. Fair play to the Hammers, though, as they were the better team for large patches of the game, although not where it counted. All of their possession in the first half resulted only in an extremely unfortunate own goal by Carragher (poor guy) and a huge mistake by Pepe -- a gifted goal for Ashton.

Liverpool, after recovering from the shock of being 2-0 down so suddenly, struck back through Cisse's incredible volley (although Crouch was ruled just offside for what would have been Liverpool's first goal), and then in the second half through Gerrard, who was frankly magnificent. Konchesky's goal was no more a legitimate goal attempt than Ronaldinho's was against England in 2002, but fluke or not, it was a goal nonetheless, and Pepe could be faulted for it.

His two mistakes during the game may have condemned the rest of the team to work four times as hard as they would have had to, but they did what they had to do, they did it with determination, if not quite aplomb, and put pressure on West Ham for long periods of time after going a goal down again. It really did seem futile for a few minutes toward the end, as players began dropping like flies due to cramp and Rafa was forced to take off two of the more creative players -- Kewell with a groin tweak, and Alonso with an ankle problem -- leaving nobody to pick up the slack.

Until Gerrard struck again, that is, in the 91st minute, in the most spectacular, breathtaking way possible. His 35-yard scorcher might actually top THAT goal against Olympiakos last year, and showed just how much he encapsules the captain's role. You know that Verizon commercial where the deal is so good that the customer needs to spin an adjective wheel in order to describe just how good it is? That's our Stevie -- requires an adjective wheel, he does.

When you stop to consider that:

- 90th minute
- Liverpool down by a goal
- about half the squad had cramp and Gerrard was seen LIMPING not 30 seconds ago
- 35 yards out
- the ball left his boot and hit the back of the net WITHOUT TOUCHING THE GROUND
- there was absolutely no setup, just a ball in open space and a man who wanted a trophy

then it must be considered the best goal ever scored in a FA Cup final. I mean, end of! I don't know how he does it, either, in terms of both physical force and the forces of physics. Someone on RAWK forums said that Stevie is essentially from the school of "I stuck me foot out and it went in the back of the net" goalscoring, and that seems like a fair appraisal most weekends. Stevie himself even called it a "dream goal," and I guess that's what makes this one a bit different from the goal he scored against Olympiakos last year. That one came from a play, and knockdown, and Stevie approached it with purpose, a certain direction he was looking at. The fans could predict that one coming. This screamer was absolutely out of nowhere, powerful, pinpointed, and I can't imagine how tired he must have been when he scored it.

Then, extra time, and frankly, while Liverpool controlled play for most of the 30 minutes, it was quite evident that no one was going to score a winning goal. I have to mention Kromkamp, however, as the lad came on and held possession expertly throughout extra time, being the only relatively fresh player left on the pitch (you could argue Sheringham, but the man is a canned sardine, he's so old). The one bit of excitement occured at the Liverpool end, as Reina was forced to tip a Reo-Coker header onto the post. Heart effectively stopped, thank you Liverpool. Barely had we recovered from that than the ref blew to signal the end of extra time -- and thusly, penalty kicks.

Any fan who knows Reina at all know that he's considered a spot kick specialist. His save percentage last season with Villarreal was something freakish, and the one PK he faced all season was against Chelsea, and he was unlucky not to save that one. But once it went to PKs, like last year against AC Milan, it was all over. This is when I started to go a bit nuts and held my breath for longer than necessary (or healthy). But it was over quicker than I thought it would be, probably because of Pepe's skill.

The first save against Zamora was a right beauty. He's so quick in and around the box, sometimes it's hard to imagine just how much of a difference his speed has made this season. But this was one of those times, as he managed to spread himself out and save three penalties: the other two were from Konchesky (poetic justice, no one can tell me otherwise) and Ferdinand.

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