La Galaxia de Estrellas

Liverpool FC wins the FA Cup Final against West Ham United. But this win was not like any other. It was very very dramatic. Paul Konchesky scored from an attempted cross to make the score 3-2 which seemed to be the winner. But Steven Gerrard's and Liverpool's 'Never-Say-Die' attitude made him score a 30 yard screamer in stoppage time to take the game into exta time and then finally to penalty shoot-out. Pepe Reina, their goalkeeper turned from zero (for letting in two goals which shouldn't have gone in) to hero to save firstly a looping Nigel Reo-Coker header towards the end of extra time and then saving penalties from Bobby Zamora, Paul Konchesky and Anton Ferdinand in the shoot out to crown Liverpool as winners of the FA Cup.

Early Lead
It all started with an Jamie Carragher (20`) own goal which gave The Hammers an early lead which Dean Ashton doubled in the 26th minute. It looked like it was all over for Liverpool, but a great volley from 'the ever-prolific' Djiblil Cisse gave Liverpool a glimer of hope. The teams left at half time with the scorecard reading as West Ham 2 Liverpool 1.

Was it a bird or plane???
Nope, It was Steven Gerrard. The second half begun. Yet again it was the 'you-know-what' attitude which made them equalise, this time through Stevie G himself in the 51st minute. Peter Crouch headed down a Xabi Alonso cross, which Gerrard finished with a first time shot. The score now was 2-2. Late in the gmae, Paul Konchesky's attempted cross fell into the goal making the score 3-2 in favour of West Ham. The drama was not yet over. It was stoppage time and Steven Gerrard scored a 30 yard half-volleyed screamer past the the West Ham custodian to level scores yet again at 3-3.



Penalty Shootout:nervous:
Both sides were visibly tired during extra time, as cramped players went down in regular intervals. Penalties looked the likeliest outcome until 90 seconds before the end when West Ham came very close to a winner. Reina brilliantly punched away a looping Nigel Reo-Coker header onto the inside of the post, then a clearly injured Harewood missed a relatively simple rebound. Dietmar Hamann, Steven Gerrard and John Arne Riise scored for Liverpool and Pepe Reina saved penalties from three West Ham players to hand Liverpool their 7th FA Cup.

Post-match Comments
Rafael Benitez, Liverpool Manager

I must give credit to my players as after a 62 game season a lot of them had cramp but they kept going until the end, never gave up and have done a fantastic job. Steven Gerrard scored two fantastic goals and you know the quality he has and I give him credit but for me it was the success of the team. Steven would say that himself and the energy levels the players showed was amazing. It was a fantastic final. Our supporters were fantastic as always and they kept us going. I was a little bit disappointed with the mistakes we made but we changed things. Cisse got a goal just before half-time which was important then I put Kromkamp on down the right side because Konchesky had cramps. We needed to control the midfield more and I put Didi Hamann on and he kept the ball and passed it for us.

Benitez also praised his goalkeeper Pepe Reina for his heroics in the shoot-out when he made three saves.

Pepe is famous back in Spain for saving penalties so we had confidence in him and he did his job for us

The Reds boss also revealed Harry Kewell had to leave the field with a muscular injury but feels he will be fit for the World Cup Finals.

It was a disappointment for Harry to come off in another final and I think he will be out for two weeks but I think he will be okay for the World Cup

Djibril Cisse, Striker, Liverpool

It was a great ball from Steven and it was nice for me to score but the most important thing was we won the game for our fans. What can you say about Steven Gerrard? He was amazing and he is the man! It was special to play in an FA Cup Final and it was just a fantastic day. A few of us had cramp in the game but our fans kept us going and you just want to run and run for them.

Steven Gerrard, Player, Captain, Liverpool

We felt our best chance was penalties because we had no energy left," revealed Gerrard. We always knew if it went to penalties we had a really good chance, we feel we've got the better goalkeeper on the day. He made a great save in the last minute and he deserves to be the hero. It's very special, the supporters are fantastic and West Ham were brilliant today, but we had the never say die attitude. It's a dream for me to score two, and a penalty, and to be able to celebrate with all these magnificent fans. We've got a great team spirit - It doesn't matter how many goals we go down, we'll keep fighting till the end.

Jose Manuel Reina, of Penalty Shoot-Out

I think really that I didn't deserve it because my game today wasn't the best - it was a difficult day for me, but in the lottery of the penalties this time I was lucky.

Champions League Final, Istanbul
We have to remember that not long ago, in the final of the UEFA Champions League Liverpool came back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat AC Milan through penalties in Istanbul, Turkey. Jerzy Dudek, then, was the hero, saving the penalty of Andriy Shevchenko to help Liverpool lift the Champions League. It was the same 'Never-Say-Die'attitude which they showed helped them attain glory. What we can all learn from this is that

Football is not just a game which is there to be loved but it is a game from which we can learn a lot

Comments courtesy liverpoolfc.tv, homepage of Liverpool Football Club