Don’t Dream It’s Over

Little did I know that when I woke up this morning to watch the second half of the normal time of the Roma-Arsenal match that it would be so stressful (I had a tummy upset throughout, it was that stressful). I was feeling frustrated with Arsenal’s nervous control of the ball and was yelling for Wenger to make substitutions. Wenger stuck to his guns (or Gunners?) and fielded a 4-2-3-1 formation as in the first leg. And man, the atmosphere at the stadium was not exactly friendly (a fan also suffered a stab before the match).

Wenger probably had tummy upset too watching the Gunners play

The match ended 1-1 on aggregate after 90 minutes and they had to play an extra half an hour. Good if you’re there at the stadium for the extra minutes of footie (more bargain for your money) but not if you’re many time zones ahead and have to prepare for a new day. Why oh why do the Gunners always make life difficult for themselves and their fans too?

That extra time also ended goalless so unlike Bayern München who were in seventh heaven after munching Sporting Lisbon seven up, we had to go for penalty shoot outs – that turned out to be the highest scoring shoot-out in Champions League history. It wasn’t easy for the Arsenal penalty-takers though as Doni stands at 6ft 5in, and he definitely presented quite an obstacle for the Gunners. And they needed extraordinary mental strength to convert their penalties against a background of deafening background of whistling, cheering and jeering.

I missed Dudú’s penalty miss because I went to perform prayers. The penalty shootout order was as follows:

PENALTY SHOOTOUT
EDUARDO SAVED Roma 0-0 Arsenal (good Doni stop)
PIZARRO SCORED Roma 1-0 Arsenal
VAN PERSIE SCORED Roma 1-1 Arsenal
VUCINIC SAVED Roma 1-1 Arsenal (shocking peno)
WALCOTT SCORED Roma 1-2 Arsenal (should save it)
BAPTISTA SCORED Roma 2-2 Arsenal
NASRI SCORED Roma 2-3 Arsenal
MONTELLA SCORED Roma 3-3 Arsenal
DENILSON SCORED Roma 3-4 Arsenal
TOTTI SCORED Roma 4-4 Arsenal

At this point I was beginning to wonder if all players including the substitutes would have to go take their turn at penalty (if so, does that include Fabianski, our substitute goalie?). And what happens if it’s still a draw? Do they then ask the managers to take penalty too (ha ha)?

PENALTY SHOOTOUT (continued)
TOURE SCORED Roma 4-5 Arsenal
AQUILANI SCORED Roma 5-5 Arsenal
SAGNA SCORED Roma 5-6 Arsenal
RIISE SCORED Roma 6-6 Arsenal

I was already lying on the sofa and starting to cry.

PENALTY SHOOTOUT (continued)
DIABY SCORED Roma 6-7 Arsenal
TONETTO MISSED Roma 6-7 Arsenal

We did it! Oh thank God our defenders can score too. Phew!

And so Arsenal completed England’s Champions League strangehold by beating host Roma. None of the Italians survived to advance to the quarter-finals.

What a thrilling dramatic way to end a night. I’m still having difficulties breathing by the way and reckon I need to take the rest of the day easy just to recover.

You’d think we’d won the CL itself

Roma’s dreams of playing in the Champions League final at their own Stadio Olimpico are now over, and there are no Italian teams left in the competition. But for Arsenal, the dream is not yet over.

The draw for the quarter-finals of the Champions League (and the semis, and the quarters and semis of the Uefa Cup) will be made on Friday, 20 March 2009, at about 1100 GMT.

And to end this week of saving our season, we face Blackburn this Saturday.