That's On Point: The Web Site

Ok, if you don't get the title, it's what babelfish says is the Greek equivalent of 'Walk On.'

In other words its time to show some love for all the Reds fans out there that read this little slice of Internet heaven after their team's victory over Chelsea in the Champions League semifinals at Anfield.

First and foremost, missed the mist 70 minutes of the match -- don't ask. Didn't look like I missed all that much, considering this was a pretty dull, defensive-dominated affair. Not that it made it any less compelling to watch.

It was certainly surprising to see Chelsea's attack so listless for the most part, though Didier Drogba had a clear chance that he muffed in the second period of extra time.

In the end, though, it was fitting that Dirty Dirk Kuyt drilled the clinching penalty kick past Petr Cech. The Dutchman appeared to have won it in overtime, but was offside, then had a great chance but couldn't fire past Cech. It's gotta be the (wooden) shoes.

Normally I hate penalty kicks as much as the next guy, but this one gave me goosebumps.

No matter if it's AC Milan or Manchester United winning Wednesday, it's a dream final for Athens. Either a rematch of the pick-your-adjective amazing 2005 final or a battle of England's most historically successful teams. May 23 is going to be great.

The final coherent thought for now, watching from my couch there really is nothing like the passion at Anfield when they begin to sing 'You'll Never Walk Alone.' New Liverpool owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks were in the building. You wonder if they noticed this? They're not going be able to bottom up that passion and emotion and transport it to there new, likely, sterile ground. That magic, like we saw Tuesday, it's necessarily going to translate.

Makes me pencil in a trip to Anfield as a personal quest for the next year or two. It'd be a shame to miss out.

As you can probably tell, part of me, deep down wants to be a Liverpool supporter. But I just can't do it. I can't. Everything feels so right about the club, but why does loving it feel so wrong?

Some random thoughts...

** Why on Earth did Jose Jose Jose, Jose, Jose, select Geremi of all his players to take the deciding penalty kick? The real 'Special One' would not make such a decision. I do not like him the proverbial 'big spot.'

** Must be a Danish thing, how else to explain Daniel Agger's elbow tat? (The scary thing is that it's a safe bet some kid over there in Jutland has built and Agger sculpture out of LEGOs.)

** Brilliant work in Bristol, having the bottom line tick by saying the game was over as extra time was being played out.

** Was it sad or what to see Chelsea skipper John Terry fighting back tears after the loss? Maybe not.

** Typical Mourinho blather after the game, "In extra time we were the only team who tried to win, but football is like that and the penalty shootout is part of the game."

** Take it for what its worth, but I had a good feeling Arjen Robben would miss his try. Though I thought he'd miss the target all together.

** Never been a huge Pepe Reina fan, but he got it done tonight. Did the Jerzy proud.

** For those that care, here's the nationality count breakdown on the pitch at Anfield Tuesday: England (10), Netherlands (3), Spain (2), Cote D'Ivoire (2), Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Argentina, Wales, Czech Republic, Portugal, Ghana, France, Nigeria, Cameroon. (Note, we'll count Salomon Kalou as Ivorian, not Dutch.)

** Regardless of the result, Petr Cech is basically in a class by himself as far as keepers go. Maybe the only guy you can say is in his caliber is Gianluigi Buffon, but a year in Serie B certainly has dulled his skills, no? Cech did guess right a couple of times on the penalty kicks, too.

** Speaking of world class players, what more can be said about Michael Essien? The Ghanaian tank might not be the flashiest player in the world, but his value to a squad is without parallel. How many shots did he block or deflect Tuesday? I guess his only weakness is English motorway coppers.

** Maybe it's me, but is anyone else sick of Derek Rae?

** At this point, if you're a Chelsea supporter, would winning the FA Cup on May 13th be any consolation? Probably not.

Let's hope AC Milan/ManU is half as interesting as this one.

Finally, this isn't from Tuesday, but it's pretty good.

Labels: champions league, Chelsea, Soccer