Former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen has revealed the unlikely role Roger Federer played in the club’s 2008 Champions League triumph.
United overcame Premier League rivals Chelsea in Moscow to lift their third European Cup. Having been unable to find a winner in 120 minutes of football, the Reds eventually prevailed via a penalty shootout.
It of course takes nerves of steel to keep your cool in such a pressure situation. With Sir Alex Ferguson in charge, United had the perfect man to motivate them to victory, although they looked towards another sporting legend in the build-up to their date with destiny.
“I am a keen tennis fan and I have always admired Roger Federer and the way he controls his emotions,” Meulensteen told Planet Football. “I selected five clips of Federer for the boys to watch and asked them to write down which tournament he was appearing in, which set it was and which point.
“They would identify, say, Wimbledon as the competition, but they couldn’t tell me which point or set it was. The point I made to them was that wherever Federer was playing, he was winning and performing at the highest level when it really mattered.
“He would win the first set, then lose the second and the third but, by the time the game reached match point, everything which had happened before didn’t matter because he was so focused on winning.”
That focus proved to be crucial in Moscow. Having taken the lead through Cristiano Ronaldo and having had much the better of the first half, Chelsea managed to draw themselves level before the break.
United were then unable to find a winner, despite Chelsea going down to 10 men after Didier Drogba saw red during extra time. They suffered another setback when Ronaldo missed his effort during the penalty shootout, and were on the verge of losing the final when John Terry stepped up to take the Blues’ final spot-kick.
The Chelsea captain infamously slipped and missed, taking the shootout into sudden death. Eventually, Edwin van der Sar saved Nicolas Anelka’s effort as United were crowned European champions for a third time.
“If Drogba had been sent off earlier in the game I think we would have been able to capitalise properly, but it seemed to spur Chelsea on,” Meulensteen added. “When Terry came up to take the penalty, he thought, ‘This is all about me – all the lights are on me.’ He pushed his captain’s armband up, but he lost focus and slipped.
“The difference with us was that Nani, Anderson, Ryan Giggs and our other penalty takers were clinically focused. When Anelka stepped up, I couldn’t watch but I knew, whatever happened, Edwin was determined that he was going to stop that penalty because he was a winner – it was his Federer moment.”
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