San Siro is the name of the home pitch shared by Inter Milan and AC Milan, two leading football clubs in Italy. On Tuesday night, the stadium was virtually on fire, a week after the first leg of the Champions League semifinals showdown between Inter and Barca at the Olympic Stadium in Spain, which ended, 3-3. The Spain encounter was a foretaste of what to come in Italy. The match lived up to its billing. From the start to the end, there was no dull moment.
By the 90th minute, the normal regulation time, Barca were leading 3-2. At that stage, the game was as good as won. So, Barca and their supporters as well as others thought. But the Inter boys did not give up and in the third minute of added time, they got the equaliser. The game resumed in extra time and Inter got the winning goal in the first half of extra time to end the breath taking game, 4-3 after about 126 minutes, including added time of extra time, of pulsating soccer.
It was football at its best, the kind of which I do not think has been seen in the history of the Champions League. Inter are now in the finals. Either side could have won as both teams were hungry for victory. When teams play like this, the beautiful game is the better for it. Is that not why people are crazy about soccer?
