Sport News 17

Ashley Cole: ‘This is the reason I came here’

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Defender Ashley Cole was adamant that Chelsea fully deserved to be crowned European champions for the first time in their history.

The Blues defeated Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena 4-3 on penalties to win the Champions League after the two sides had been locked at 1-1 at the end of extra-time.

Thomas Muller had headed the Bavarian giants into a deserved lead in the 83rd minute before Didier Drogba levelled with a bullet header with just two minutes remaining of normal time.

The Ivorian was the hero again when he buried the winning penalty in a dramatic shoot-out.

Asked if Chelsea had won the game in their typical style, Cole told Sky Sports 1 HD: “Yeah. To be honest, I’m lost for words.

“I think we should have probably lost the game with the amount of chances they had but we said it after Napoli, if we beat them, we ride our luck, you need luck in this competition and we rode our luck today but we deserved it.”

After Chelsea had clawed their way back in normal time but then conceded a penalty in extra-time, Cole was asked if he thought they had run out of luck.

“Not really, he replied. “With the players we’ve got here, we knew we had time and with Petr (Cech) making good saves like that, we always knew we were in it.”

Cole had previously been a Champions League loser twice before (with Arsenal in 2006 and Chelsea in 2008) and he was asked what it felt like to finally win it.

“Now no one can say nothing to me,” said the England full-back. “This is the reason I came here.”

Jupp Heynckes has plenty to think about.

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Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes has called on Roman Abramovich to give Roberto Di Matteo a three-year contract after Chelsea secured Champions League glory for the first time in their history.

After presiding over a startling upturn in fortunes following Andre Villas-Boas’ dismissal in February, Di Matteo still doesn’t know if he is going to get the job on a permanent basis.

Heynckes sees no reason for further delay.

“I congratulate Chelsea on their victory,” said Heynckes.

“If you wish me to say something about Roberto di Matteo it is that Chelsea should give him a three-year contract.”

Heynckes admitted his side had no-one to blame but themselves after dominating throughout the 120 minutes.

However, after taking the lead through Thomas Muller with just eight minutes remaining, Bayern allowed Didier Drogba to level in the final minute.

Then, after Arjen Robben had a penalty saved by Petr Cech in extra-time, the customary German efficiency in shoot-out situations failed them as Drogba scored the winning spot-kick to secure a 4-3 triumph.

“Chelsea played the way we thought,” said Heynckes.

“We must blame ourselves for having so many goalscoring opportunities without being able to score until the 83rd minute.”

Heynckes also confirmed he expected Franck Ribery to shrug off the injury that he sustained in a tackle by Drogba that earned Bayern their extra-time penalty.

The Bayern coach also cleared Robben of any responsibility, the Dutchman failing to take one of his side’s five penalties following his earlier failure.

“You can understand if he didn’t score the penalty in extra-time that he may have lost some self-confidence to participate in the penalty shoot-out,” said Heynckes.

“That is quite easy to see.”

John Terry celebrates in Munich.

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John Terry believes it was “meant to be” after Chelsea won the Champions League and thanked Frank Lampard for allowing him to be part of the trophy celebrations.

Chelsea became European champions for the first time after Didier Drogba scored the decisive penalty to beat Bayern Munich 4-3 in a shoot-out after a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena.

Blues captain Terry watched the game from the sidelines after being sent off in the semi-final against Barcelona, but helped stand-in skipper Frank Lampard lift the trophy.

With Chelsea having rode their luck at various stages of the tournament, including in the final itself, Terry was delighted to be able to celebrate a momentous night in the club’s history.

“It was worse watching,” Terry told Sky Sports. “It was incredible. The lads were fantastic in the first half, second half.

“When it goes to penalties, it’s amazing how the momentum swings. Once they missed that second penalty that was it, it was always going our way.

“When you look at it, we were 3-1 down against Napoli, then in the quarter-finals against Benfica. Everyone had ruled us out of this competition early on, even today they scored in the 83rd minute and Didier comes up with a goal, they miss a penalty, the Barcelona game as well.

“Sometimes things are meant to be and I’m so happy it’s meant to be Chelsea this year.”

On being able to take part in the celebrations, Terry added: “It means the world to me. It was a great touch from Frank, and a really nice gesture from UEFA as well.

“It was an unfortunate situation I put myself in and unfortunate for the players on yellow cards. On a great night like this you have to be involved.”

Winning the Champions League is the culmination of a long-held ambition of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, and Terry also paid tribute to the club’s supporters.

The defender continued: “This competition means the world to this football club and when you see the fans you see what it means to them.

“There are so many Chelsea fans back home who have not made the trip and have unfortunately not been able to get a ticket. Everyone here is thinking of them and thanks every Chelsea supporter for their support.”

Didier Drogba scores Chelsea’s winning penalty.

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Didier Drogba hailed his side’s never-say-die spirit after helping Chelsea win the Champions League for the first time in their history.

The Blues beat Bayern Munich 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out after the final at the Allianz Arena had finished 1-1 after extra-time.

Drogba struck the winning penalty having also headed home an 88th-minute equaliser to cancel out Thomas Muller’s opener for Bayern five minutes previously.

Drogba said of his team-mates: “The never give up until the end. This team is amazing.”

The Ivory Coast international added of the victory on ITV: “It was written, I think, a long time ago.

“I want to dedicate this cup to all the managers we’ve had before, all the players I’ve played with before.”

Drogba also hailed the performance of goalkeeper Petr Cech, who saved a penalty from Arjen Robben in extra-time and then also played a key part as Bayern missed twice in the shoot-out.

“When we have this guy in goal you have to believe,” Drogba said.

Drogba’s future remains unclear as rumours have persisted that he will leave for a new chapter in his career in China.

“It was the last kick of the season,” said the Ivorian, when asked whether it was his last kick for the club.

“You do not make decisions in emotional moments like this.”

Frank Lampard scored one of Chelsea’s four successful penalties and the 33-year-old, who joined from West Ham in 2001 and captained them on Saturday night in John Terry’s absence, savoured the club’s glory night.

He said: “I can’t believe it. The determination we’ve shown… we didn’t play fantastic but the main man Didier dug us out of trouble there.

“He’s a hero. Without him we’re not here.

“He scores the goals in the big games.”

Lampard said of Drogba, who is out of contract this summer: “I’d love him to stay. What he did tonight he’s been doing all his career.”

Of the club’s triumph, Lampard said: “It means everything.

“We’ve been so many years trying to do this.

“This is the one we really wanted and we’ve got it.”

Asked whether the win should lead to interim manager Roberto Di Matteo being given the job permanently, Lampard said: “It’s not a question for this moment.

“He took us from a struggling team maybe going out of the Champions League and we won it, so look at that.”

Roberto Di Matteo: ‘I’m enjoying this moment’

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Roberto Di Matteo refused to discuss his future after Chelsea won the Champions League with a 4-3 victory on penalties over Bayern Munich.

The match finished 1-1 after extra-time but the Blues were able to battle back after trailing 3-1 in the shoot-out as Didier Drogba scored the winning spot-kick.

Thomas Muller had earlier put Bayern ahead before Drogba’s late equaliser forced extra-time.

Di Matteo has been Chelsea’s interim-manager since Andre Villas-Boas departed but he only wanted to enjoy the moment after winning European club football’s top competition.

He told ITV1: “I’m enjoying this moment and I’d just like to go out and celebrate with the players.

“I won’t talk about it now. I just want to enjoy the moment.”

The Italian hailed his team’s spirit, saying: “We have a group of players that have a big heart, passion, motivation and desire.

“That was the only way to be able to achieve this trophy.

“It’s been an immense effort by the whole group – staff, players – and we are very happy tonight.”

Asked whether he had doubts when Bayern took a late lead, Di Matteo said: “Bayern is a good team and when they scored there was not much time left.

“Games like this need passion and players who rise to the occasion.

“We’ve got a lot of players like that, who have done it before and did it against today.”

As for Drogba, who joined Chelsea from Marseille eight years ago, Di Matteo said: “He’s been incredible for this club.

“He scored a fantastic goal tonight to keep us in the game, then the winning penalty as well.”

Di Matteo took over from Villas-Boas at the start of March, and said: “It’s been an incredible three months, demanding and challenging for everybody.”

Chelsea enjoy Champions League victory.

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Didier Drogba scored the winning penalty as Chelsea won the Champions League final with a thrilling 4-3 shoot-out victory over Bayern Munich.

Bayern had numerous chances to wreck Chelsea’s dream and even led 3-1 in the shoot-out after goalkeeper Manuel Neuer had scored.

But Ivica Olic and Bastian Schweinsteiger both failed from the spot to allow Drogba, on potentially his final appearance for the club, to step up to erase the heartache of Moscow four years ago.

Thomas Muller’s 83rd minute header had earlier appeared set to give Bayern victory on their home ground, only for Drogba’s stunning riposte to send the game into extra-time.

Drogba blotted his copybook by conceding a penalty early into extra-time, only for Petr Cech to deny Arjen Robben and the Ivorian, who was sent off in the final against Manchester United in 2008, completed his redemption by maintaining his composure in the shoot-out after the game ended 1-1 at the end of the additional period.

Roberto Di Matteo sent Chelsea out with a game-plan to contain Bayern and, for the most part, the policy worked as Jupp Heynckes’ side sought to pick holes in a resolute defence.

Midway through the first half, Robben wriggled into space inside the box, but the former Chelsea winger was denied by a smart reaction stop from Cech, who diverted the ball onto the post.

Mario Gomez, who had scored 20 goals in his previous 17 Champions League appearances, was enduring a frustrating night and he skied over just before half-time as Bayern remained the dominant force.

The second half followed the same pattern as the first as a marginal offside decision against Franck Ribery went Chelsea’s way when the French winger turned home the loose ball after Robben’s shot had been blocked by Ashley Cole.

The Blues full-back appeared to be a magnet for the ball inside the box, but a momentary lapse from Cole allowed Bayern to take the lead with seven minutes to go.

Toni Kroos curled in a cross from the left and Cole seemed unaware of Muller’s presence behind him at the back post as the Germany international’s header bounced down and over Cech before going in off the underside of the crossbar.

Bayern brought on Daniel van Buyten in a bid to shut the game down, but were punished with two minutes left when Drogba powerfully headed home at the near post from Chelsea’s first corner of the game.

Drogba looked primed to go from hero to villain three minutes into extra-time when he tripped Ribery in the box, but Cech spared the striker as he kept out former team-mate Robben’s low penalty.

Cech was again on song in the shoot-out to thwart substitute Olic and Schweinsteiger before Drogba sent the travelling Chelsea fans into raptures.

Pat Fenlon is sent to the stands.

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Hibernian manager Pat Fenlon denied gesturing towards taunting Hearts fans after he was sent to the stands in the final seconds of his team’s 5-1 William Hill Scottish Cup final drubbing at Hampden.

A Rudi Skacel double and goals from Darren Barr, Danny Grainger – from the spot – and Ryan McGowan had Hearts on easy street.

The one-sided game saw Hibernian defender Pa Kujabi sent off just after the break for picking up his second yellow card for a foul on Suso Santana in conceding the penalty which Grainger tucked away.

As the celebrating Hearts supporters mockingly chanted “There’s only one Pat Fenlon”, the Irishman appeared to gesture at them and was sent off by referee Craig Thomson.

However, Fenlon denied reacting to his tormentors.

“No I didn’t,” he said. “I made a gesture in relation to the way we were playing. We kept giving the ball away cheaply.

“I don’t know what they were singing to be honest.

“There is a helluva lot made in relation to the gesture but we want to talk about the game, we were well beaten today, they were miles ahead of us and it was a difficult day for everybody.”

Fenlon appeared rather confused as to why he was punished by Thomson.

“I don’t know (why),” he said. “I didn’t ask him about that. I didn’t get to speak to the referee, he was the last person I wanted to speak to.

“It was frustration with the way we are playing. The referee said it was the police but I spoke to the police who said they had nothing to do with it so it is disappointing.”

Hibernian’s consolation goal came before the break from skipper James McPake when he reduced the deficit to 2-1.

But that lifeline only last four minutes into the second half when Hearts added goals three and four to effectively secure their first cup win in six years.

Fenlon slated his players, who survived relegation from the Clydesdale Bank Premier League by the skin of their teeth, and promised changes at the club next season.

“I apologise to our own supporters, it was a desperately disappointing day,” he said.

“We didn’t have any players today, it was probably summed up in that (substitute) Eoin Doyle was probably our best player and I don’t know how long he was on.

“When you send a team out the least you expect is desire and work rate and we didn’t have that today.

“Sometimes you can have games where you are not good enough, we didn’t show any real hunger.

“There is a softness about the place that we need to change.

“We have to sit down and analyse it but obviously there has to be changes to the type of player we recruit to the club.

“You think players would be busting a gut to play but we didn’t have that today, that’s probably what’s wrong with the football club at the moment, lack of desire and will to win.”

The Hearts players throw Paulo Sergio up in the air.

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Hearts boss Paulo Sergio refused to speculate about his own future after beating rivals Hibernian 5-1 in the William Hill Scottish Cup final.

The Tynecastle outfit eased to victory in the first all-Edinburgh Scottish Cup final in 116 years as Darren Barr opened the floodgates, Rudi Skacel put Hearts 2-0 ahead before James McPake pulled one back for Hibs.

Just after the break Danny Grainger converted a penalty, as Hibs went down to 10 men, and Ryan McGowan added a fourth.

Skacel then struck a fifth as Hearts sealed a brilliant result for Sergio’s men at Hampden Park.

The Portuguese is out of contract in the summer but preferred to concentrate on his “biggest achievement” to date as a manager.

“It is not a moment to be speaking about my future,” said the former Sporting Lisbon chief.

“I don’t know if it my last game, I will see.

“It is not winning the cup or not winning the cup that can make me stay or not, there are a lot of things to talk about.

“The important thing is Hearts.

“It is probably my biggest achievement as manager.

“I was champion in the first season as coach and we got promoted.

“I lost the final of the Portuguese Cup against Porto and I have won a final as a player and won some promotions, good moments but this is different.

“I am working outside my country which makes things harder in the beginning so that leaves a fantastic flavour.

“It was a great result, a great game by the team so I am very proud and happy.

“It was great to see the joy of all our supporters who came to Hampden and my family were in the stands.

“It was a great moment.”

Sam Allardyce shakes hands with Ian Holloway.

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Ian Holloway was left proud of his players but regretting missed opportunities after Blackpool were beaten 2-1 by West Ham at Wembley.

The Championship play-off final defeat courtesy of Ricardo Vaz Te’s late winner denied the Seasiders an instant return to the Premier League.

Thomas Ince’s second-half equaliser had put Blackpool back on level terms after Carlton Cole’s first-half goal but ultimately the Hammers were more clinical on the big occasion.

And Holloway was magnanimous in the wake of desperate disappointment, telling Sky Sports: “Well done to West Ham. It looked like it was going to extra-time, I was very pleased with our performance overall.

“I think when they scored we lost it a little bit, lost our shape, lost our belief and I asked them to do certain things at half-time.

“Like my lot, they went out there second half, fantastic performance, and we’ll be rueing the day we missed a couple of chances, but that’s life.

“Good luck to them. I’m very proud of my players, very proud of my team and my fans. Unfortunately we didn’t deliver.”

Holloway’s men wasted a host of chances before the interval with Stephen Dobbie hitting the post before Matty Phillips spurned two golden opportunities.

But the Blackpool boss did not want to blame his young star, preferring instead to focus on his players’ improvement after conceding four against West Ham in both league fixtures.

“Matty is learning isn’t he?” said Holloway. “It was a fantastic move to get through and unfortunately he didn’t strike it like he normally does.

“But we’ve got some fantastic players, they’ve got bright futures and I would have loved them to ply their trade in the top flight but unfortunately West Ham have pipped us to it.

“All you can say is well done to them.

“We’ve had a great day but unfortunately it’s all about chances. We created more than enough – that’s 2-1 instead of 4-1 and 4-0 so we’ve improved again. Not quite good enough.”

The winning goal was not the cleanest with Cole emerging from a melee in the box to find Vaz Te.

Holloway felt there was a case for a foul – but he was not keen to labour the point, adding: “I thought the second looked as though there was a foul.

“But at the end of the day they’ve just scored on 88 minutes so I’ve got to appeal for something.

“Sometimes in life it goes against you but all you can do is congratulate the opponents. I thought we gave a great account of ourselves today.”

The former Leicester boss is proud of what the club have achieved under his leadership with young talent like Ince and Phillips blossoming alongside more experienced heads, and it is not difficult for Holloway to pick the positives out of this season’s efforts.

The 49-year-old said: “When we dust ourselves down there were lots of fantastic developments – young players, I was proud of the two boys today they’ve come on an awful long way.

“I’m proud of Kevin Phillips and Barry Ferguson for joining us. I’m absolutely ecstatic with my lads who have been with me on this three-year journey.

“I thought they were absolutely terrific. Every one of them looked a better player now than when I started.

“The likes of Brett Ormerod and Keith Southern, I couldn’t even give them a game today.

“We lost Fletch (Gary Taylor-Fletcher through injury). He may have fancied sticking one of them away. But we’re trying to grow, we’re trying to get better.

“Today I saw my team playing the way I wanted them to and in a game like this that’s all you can take with you.”

Holloway appeared unwilling to think too far ahead to next season, seemingly aggrieved at the lack of financial support for him and his squad.

He added: “We have got to get over playing in the Championship again because we were all hoping we could play in the top flight and then it’s all change.

“They deserve a lot better than what they’ve got this season.

“Being in this level – to have to win it to get the fair amount of money that the other people are being paid – isn’t right in my opinion. But we’ve got to get over it.

“It’s about building now. What are we doing and where are we going? And I can’t answer those questions.”