Maldini holds head up high
Wednesday 25 May, 2005
Paolo Maldini maintains Milan should be proud of their performance, while Hernan Crespo thought the first half was too good to be true.
“The Champions’ League was our primary objective for this season, so to lose it like this is incredibly painful,” said the captain who opened the scoring after just 57 seconds.
“In any case, we had a great campaign and cannot complain about our performance. We leave this Final with our heads held high.”
Maldini was seen shaking his head in amazement during Liverpool’s celebrations, having somehow thrown away a 3-0 first half lead in the space of six minutes.
“Many little things went wrong and now we are here commenting on an undeserved defeat. Even after they came back to draw 3-3 we had plenty of scoring opportunities. If I remember that double save on Shevchenko then it gives me goosebumps.”
The veteran was able to make his seventh Champions’ League Final appearance, though he has only won four trophies.
“We reacted well and played better than Liverpool, while I thought the Premiership side was rather lacklustre on a fitness level,” continued Maldini. “We won’t give in, but this is a bitter pill to swallow. I am sure this match will come back into my mind a lot over the years. Even the memory of scoring the goal has been ruined as it was for nothing.”
Hernan Crespo had bagged a brace during a perfect first half performance from the Rossoneri and admits it was all going too well.
“It was too good to be true,” said the Argentine. “I still can’t quite believe that in football these things can happen, but we’ll try again next year. Liverpool managed a remarkable recovery and Dudek’s two saves on Sheva were just incredible. Hopefully we can put all this behind us with the summer holidays coming up.”
Diego Armando Maradona was in Istanbul to commentate on the match for Sky Italia and was disappointed with the outcome.
“As with everyone who has played in Italian football, I thought that on 3-0 there was no way on this earth they could get back into it. Milan always played and Shevchenko had the chance to win it at the death. I’ve seen some comebacks in this sport, but never when faced with such clear superiority as Milan showed in the first half.”
