The European Cup, as it was originally known, was first won
by Real Madrid in 1956, the start of a period of dominance by the great Spanish
side, which brought stunning international football to the small black and
white TV sets of Britain in the late 1950's.The only British side to enter the competition at that time was Hibernian from Scotland. The English FA was not interested in competing in Europe at that time. Last night a Welshman put his
side, Real Madrid, ahead in the final in Lisbon, with an extra time header, which will rate
as his most important goal. Gareth Bale’s powerful running got him into a
position to direct into the net a brilliantly saved shot by the “on loan” Atletico
Madrid, goalkeeper Courtois.
As full time loomed and the engraver was beginning to sharpen his cutting tool, the mattress makers ran out of legs and were forced into extra time. As
the Galaticos methodically wore down their opponent’s defence, the hearts
of their less successful city neighbours were broken and the end result was inevitable. Atletico were magnificent up to Ramos' equalising header and the neutrals would have wanted the red and white stripes to make history, but once there was an opening, Marcelo and then Ronaldo, with a penalty, sealed the 4-1 victory.
Real achieved the Decima, their tenth European Championship
victory, Ronaldo scored his 17th goal in this year’s competition, Atletico’s Godin scored a goal to
put his side ahead and this matched his effort last weekend to bring secure the
Spanish league title, Bale came from the valleys, whilst Ancelloti, the Real manager, saved his
job and went off to Canada to get married. Meanwhile, Simeone, the Atletico
manager, who has pushed back the boundaries this season by creating a formidable
team that has matched Real and Barca, lost his nerve and showed how petulant he
can be by invading the pitch, complaining to the Dutch referee about the extra minutes added. Remember his reaction when David Beckham raised a
scrawny leg and kicked the Argentine in the World Cup? The Dutch referee had a great game and kept his cool.
After all the theatricals, this was a fascinating final which
should have been Atletico’s to win, had Bale not popped up at the right time.
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