Early morning of Thursday, May 28 (Wednesday, May 27 in Rome), I watched the UEFA Champions League Roma Finale 2009 between defending champions Manchester United (Man. United) and the Spanish La Liga and copa del rey champions FC Barcelona ("Barca").
In the first ten minutes, it looked like Man. United, unbeaten in 25 games in the competition, was going to crush Barca. Christiano Ronaldo, FIFA's World Player of the Year, quickly unleashed a low-flying thunderous shot to the center of the goal that Barca's keeper Victor Valdes could only parry. This allowed Ji-Sung Park to surge for the rebound for what could have been a sure goal. But, there was former United Gerard Piqué who flashed a last ditch tackle that denied Man. United a goal. Ronaldo then followed up with two more shots from distance. His power though was not matched by accuracy.
Barca then counter-attacked, with Andres Iniesta feeding Samuel Eto'o who was speeding forward from the right. The Cameroonian then dribbles the ball between Nemanja Vidić legs and fires through the left side of goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar. GOAL!
From that point, Man. United seemed listless while Barca played the field with their superb pass and move. Whenever they lose the ball to Man. United, Barca instantly put unrelenting pressure to recover possession.
With 20 minutes remaining, Barca's midfield Xavi Hernández sent a high-flying curling cross from the right to a leaping Lionel Messi near the back post. The Argentinian forward, the league's top scorer, then deftly heads the ball across goal and over Edwin van der Sar. GOAL!
Down by 2 goals, Man. United all the more looked helpless and unable to really play their game. Barca on the other hand, continued to control the field, and almost scored a third goal with 5 minutes remaining. A storming Charles Puyol in the area could not put the ball over Edwin van der Sar who had to come out rushing at his feet.
At the final whistle, it was the end for the defending champions Man. United. Barca had by then solidified their dominance of the game with a decisive 2-0 lead.
Afterwards, Ronaldo admitted, "They played better than us and controlled the game." He added: "They created more opportunities and I think they deserved to win. We knew that making bad mistakes tonight would cost us and that proved to be the case. We started very well in the opening minutes but after that I didn't see much more of Manchester United."
Indeed, it was Barca's consistent pass and move all across the pitch and throughout the game, which deserved them the much-coveted UEFA Champions League crown. They have once again showed us why football is "the beautiful game," as legendary striker Pelé put it.
For sure we can learn much from their spectacular teamwork not only in football, but also for all the games we play in life and in our various pursuits.