If you are a fan of baseball, you witnessed "the greatest comeback of all time" last fall, when the Red Sox came back from a 3-0 deficit to win the series against the Yankees and break the curse. If you are a fan of soccer, however, that phrase can only describe one game -- the Champions League Final, played last Wednesday. In a game that's sure to go down in history as one of the greatest ever, underdog Liverpool came back from a three goal defecit to defeat AC Milan in penalty kicks after a 3-3 tie in regulation.
The Champions League is the most popular club competition in Europe, giving the strongest teams on the continent a chance to play each other for the title of Champions of Europe. Liverpool had eliminated Juventus and Chelsea amongst others, while Milan had dealt with the resistance of Inter and Manchester United to get to the coveted game in Istanbul. Both teams had reached the final counting on their solid defense and that was the main reason why the expected score line was along the lines of 1-0 or 2-0 at most. "Important finals are traditionally boring. Both teams have too much to lose and play very carefully and defensively," shared his expectations before the game Michael Haase, an exchange student from Denmark.
Paolo Maldini, the 37-year old captain and living Milan legend gave the game a start few had expected, opening the score after just 52 seconds. One half-time and two Hernn Crespo goals later, Milan was in firm control of the game, holding a formidable 3-0 lead at the interval. Everything seemed to be going right for the six-time European Champions, whose game was connecting on all levels. Kak and Andriy Schevchenko, along with goal scorer Crespo were posing a constant threat to Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek and it seemed that the "Reds from Anfield" were bound for a debacle.
At that point, even among the most hardcore Liverpool fans, few believed that their team had the strength to become the first team in history to overcome a three-goal deficit in a Champions League final. Even the fact that Liverpool had won all four of their Champions Cups wearing red against an opponent in white, just like the situation in Istanbul, was little comfort and source of hope for anyone that supported the English giants.
"I supported AC Milan because my family is from Italy and I have always loved their team since I was young," shared Alex Spinoso '08, a member of the varsity soccer team. He was watching the game together with more than 50 other soccer fans at Kappa Kappa Kappa fraternity house, at an event co-organized by the fraternity and the newly formed Dartmouth Ftbol club. "AC Milan played like they know how to play in the first half. Liverpool did not know what the hell to do to tie it up and they were running around without direction," Spinoso added. Everyone seemed to agree that Milan would come out with an easy victory.
"The online odds at halftime were 97.4 : 2.6 [in favor of Milan]. If someone had purchased a decent amount of shares in a Liverpool comeback at halftime, the payoff would've been close to $100/share -- a share that could've been purchased for less than one dollar," said Ben Herold '06, a member of Tri-Kap. He himself didn't dare take the risk, witnessing the Italians' domination throughout the first half.
But then six crazy minutes changed it all. Captain Steven Gerrard reduced Milan's lead to 3-1 with a perfect header in the 54th minute, while two minutes later substitute Vladimir micer made it 3-2 with a long shot. Spaniard Xabi Alonso completed the amazing comeback in the 60th minute, scoring on the second attempt after Milan goalkeeper Dida had initially parried his penalty kick.
At that point, the 70,000 spectators at the Ataturk stadium and the 200 million viewers worldwide knew they were witnessing one of the best final games in a European competition. "To my surprise Liverpool came back and made the game very exciting," said Leandro Gonzalez '05. "I almost left after the first half, thinking it was pretty much over," added Lydia Gokey '06.
But there was still more to come. The game ended 3-3 after 90 minutes of play and went into extra-time. Two goalless extra time periods and an incredible miss by Golden Ball winner Andriy Schevchenko meant that the fate of the Champions Cup was to be decided by penalty kicks. The amusement for the fans was complete, as Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek jumped and danced along the goal line, trying to put off his opponents during the penalty kicks. His strategy proved successful and he managed to save two of the penalties, brining his team the fifth European Champions in its history in a night to remember.
"Three goals within six minutes flipped the game 180 degrees and wrote history. This game will show up in random conversations all around the world for many years to come," shared his enthusiasm Haase. Apart from enjoying the game, soccer fans at Dartmouth were also happy about the opportunity to share the experience with fellow enthusiasts. "More than 50 people with their eyes glued to a wide screen TV, shouting and yelling at soccer players on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean... What an afternoon!" commented Haase. Even AC Milan fans enjoyed the atmosphere, despite their team losing in a dramatic fashion. "It was a real soccer atmosphere," said Gonzalez.
"I think the gathering put on by Tri-Kap and Dartmouth Ftbol was fun and I definitely had a better time there than I would have had sitting at home by myself alone crying," added Spinoso. At the end of the night, it was everyone celebrating together, for they knew they had witnessed Champions League's greatest comeback of all time.
