Seminole Children

The big storyline heading into this match was English superstar David Beckham facing his old club Manchester United for the first time since departing for Real Madrid in 2003. Becks had a so-so performance but was not really a factor on the pitch. He had an opportunity at a signature 30 meter free kick late in the first half but sent it well over the bar. The biggest surprise, or at least for Milan, was the resurgence of Brazilian Ronaldinho. He showed flashes of brilliance at several times in this game and it all started with his deflected goal early on in the 3rd. Beckham put a free kick into the zone that fell into Dinho’s lap, whose shot was put in after being deflected off Carrick. From that point on, Milan truly dominated the first half with some truly exquisite passing until United caught an extremely lucky break in the 35th minute. Fletcher’s cross was met luckily by Scholes, deflected off his leg and then the post to take a fortunate away goal. Right before, Huntleaar missed just inches wide for perhaps Milan’s best opportunity in the 1st half other than Ronaldinho’s goal. From there, Milan went into the half looking by the superior club but were unfortunately all knotted at 1 a piece.

The second half was a much different story. While Milan still had ample opportunities at goal, United was much sharper in possession than they were in the first half which proved to create a much more even second half. Alexandre Pato had an amazing free kick blocked by Edwin van der Saar in the 52nd which would’ve surely gone in had it not been for the keeper’s effort. Finally after what would be described as nothing less than a disappointing showing, Nani was substituted for Valencia who proved much more effective on the right wing. Shortly after, Valencia made Sir Alex look like a genius as Wayne Rooney put his cross in with a lofty header over Dida’s hand into the upper right hand corner of the goal in the 64th. Milan, looking shocked after conceding the go-ahead, replaced Beckham with Seedorf looking for a much needed spark. However, Rooney struck again in the 72nd as he beat the offside trap and put in a beautiful chip from Fletcher to put United up 3-1. While that appeared to be all she wrote for the Rossoneri, Seedorf put in a beautiful little backheel flick off a nice pass from Ronaldinho. Again, it was Ronaldinho’s creativity that created the goal, much like he had been doing all day but he couldn’t quite seem to get it done by himself. United did a good job in the second half closing in on him and taking away his space. Milan almost equalized before the whistle when substitute Filippo Inzaghi put a nice ball just over the bar but couldn’t get it done.