04/25/24
May 13, 2006
Liverpool Defeats West Ham in FA Cup Classic: Five-to-one underdog West Ham United nearly pulled off an upset for the ages in the FA Cup, losing to Liverpool 3-1 on penalty kicks after a 3-3 tie. Liverpool Captain Steven Gerrard sent the match into extra time with a 40-yard strike in the 91st minute.
That was 40 yards and it was the 91st minute and my throat hurts from screaming at the television for most of the afternoon.
posted by JJ at 12:30 PM on May 13, 2006
Thanks ... I thought it was at 91 instead of 89, but one of the live play-by-play sites said otherwise.
posted by rcade at 12:46 PM on May 13, 2006
Liverpool seems to like leaving it late. First 2001's FA cup, then last year's Champions League, now this. If I were a Liverpool supporter I'd send the club my cardiologist's bill...congrats, scousers.
posted by Toxteth O'Grady at 01:17 PM on May 13, 2006
Damn! I was looking forward to watching this later without knowing what happened yet. Oh well. Good on you, Reds.
posted by chicobangs at 01:37 PM on May 13, 2006
You're in for a treat, Chico - even though you know how it ends.
posted by JJ at 02:05 PM on May 13, 2006
what a game
posted by luther70 at 04:04 PM on May 13, 2006
Here's all the highlights, nicely packaged by the Beeb, and ... shared ... on YouTube. I didn't watch the game but this was enough. My word. YNWA, Reds!
posted by worldcup2002 at 04:12 PM on May 13, 2006
If you just need a laugh after all that tension, try this interview with Crouch and Carragher, where they spill the beans on their teammates and themselves. It's funny, if you can even understand half of what Carragher is saying, garbling and mumblin' and marblin' and grumblin'.
posted by worldcup2002 at 04:14 PM on May 13, 2006
Probably the first ever FA Cup final I've seen that's been a good match. They're notoriously dull affairs, but this was a cracker. Helluva strike by Gerrard too. A bit of a shame that it had to end with penalties though. I know they're exciting, but the traditionalist in me thinks the FA should have stuck with the replays.
posted by afx237vi at 04:14 PM on May 13, 2006
That was something, definitely worth every penny my parents shelled out for me (we're visiting for Mother's Day). After Hammers got the third my heart was nowhere near where it was supposed to be and then Stevie G--who the F else?--put the injury time blast where Hislop could never reach it. I was wondering if we'd have 11 on their feet by the end of extra time but Pepe Reina was the Man!!! and stopped the PKs, with Riise blasting up the middle to seal the deal. Rafa: Two years and two major pieces of silverware! Buh-baby! Plus I finally got to spend time with my new nephew.
posted by billsaysthis at 08:38 PM on May 13, 2006
Best. Cup. Final. Ever. Or at least of the ones I've seen - and that's all of them since 1972. Pity that the bad guys won.
posted by owlhouse at 10:57 PM on May 13, 2006
"Pity that the bad guys won." Them scousers again ...
posted by walrus at 08:50 AM on May 14, 2006
Yeahhhhhhh Liverpoooooooooollllllll!!!!
posted by worldcup2002 at 05:58 PM on May 14, 2006
...if you can even understand half of what Carragher is saying, garbling and mumblin' and marblin' and grumblin'. You mean, he talks like a scouser?
posted by Texan_lost_in_NY at 06:53 PM on May 14, 2006
Yup. ;-)
posted by worldcup2002 at 01:38 AM on May 15, 2006
Now I diligently avoided spofi and any sports sites (or any sites that could possibly refer to the result) until I had a chance to see it. Unfortunately, some of the drama was lost on me because i noticed that the, erm, filesize of the second half of the game was more than double the first. so i figured, even before watching a second of the game, that it went to penalty kicks. still, the drama in regular time was great. too bad it couldn't have been wrapped up in regulation since watching the players hobble around for another 30 minutes wasn't too engaging (that last minute West Ham chance aside, of course). and the shootout, Reina was incredible.
posted by gspm at 07:57 AM on May 15, 2006
Fantastic match. Congrats to all the Liverpool fans lurking around here.
posted by trox at 09:19 AM on May 15, 2006
"Congrats to all the Liverpool fans lurking around here." Cheers! I can only say I must be one of the luckiest people alive. I have now been to the "best ever" Cup Finals in three different competitions, all in the last five years: UEFA Cup: Dortmund 2001, Liverpool 5-4 Alaves European Cup: Istanbul 2005, Milan 3-3 Liverpool* FA Cup: Cardiff 2006: Liverpool* 3-3 West Ham Been to other Cup Finals, and I doubtless will again, but I don't think those competitions will ever see better examples. Not any time soon anyway. As I've been saying to anyone who'll listen ever since Saturday: "they should let Liverpool in every Cup Final". They should. We'd do them proud ...
posted by walrus at 09:47 AM on May 15, 2006
“When the whistle went for normal time I just wanted to kiss him. I went over to him and thanked him for getting us out of that hole, and just told him he was the best player in the world. He’s the complete player, with no weaknesses at all.” — John Arne Riise “He is what I aspire to, Steve Gerrard, along with Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira. He’s one of my idols. He’s a natural born leader and an all-round player.” — Nigel Reo-Coker, the West Ham United captain “When the ball dropped with two minutes to go, you would have been happy if it had gone to anyone else. There are a couple of other players in the world that could do that. It was not a slash shot from him. He picked his spot and put it there with pace. That is when someone is playing at the top of their game.” — Teddy Sheringham “He’s the best player I have played with along with Zinédine Zidane. And Zidane is getting to the end of his career while Gerrard’s coming to his peak.” — Djibril Cissé STEVEN GERRARD’S LAST-GASP GOAL from about 32 metres was among the farthest strikes in the history of the FA Cup Final. The ball took 1.05sec to hit the net from when it left the boot of the Liverpool midfield player, which is equivalent to a speed of about 68mph. [from the tail end of this article - rcade, I can't remember what you had in the post originally, but I think it was "35 yards" which makes you a damn sight closer than I was when I "corrected you" having seen it through my Liverpool tinted spectacles - in my defence, I wasn't the worst. In the BBC studio, Alan Hansen dryly remarked "Look at that... I mean seriously... he's hit that from aboot 75 yerds!"]
posted by JJ at 11:22 AM on May 15, 2006
I love the winning but maybe next season the boys can take a title in regulation, or even extra, time? Please?
posted by billsaysthis at 03:48 PM on May 16, 2006
I'm just getting around to watching it now (It's on FSC tonight)...
posted by chicobangs at 07:20 PM on May 16, 2006
That's the first FA Cup I've seen. Hell of a game. In overtime, Harewood would have scored that goal if he had torn off his hobbled left leg and swung it like a club.