2007 UEFA Champions League final

2007 UEFA Champions League Final
File:UCL2007Final.jpg
Winner
A.C. Milan
Runner-up
Liverpool
Score
2–1
Date
23 May 2007
Venue
Olympic Stadium
Man of the Match
Filippo Inzaghi
Website
UEFA Champions League

The 2007 UEFA Champions League Final was a football match played at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece on 23 May 2007, to decide the winner of the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League. English club Liverpool faced Italy's A.C. Milan in a repeat match-up of the 2005 final. A.C. Milan won the match 2–1, after two goals from man of the match Filippo Inzaghi.

Before 2007, A.C. Milan's last triumph had been in the 2003 final, while Liverpool's was against Milan in the 2005 final. Liverpool and A.C. Milan started their UEFA Champions League campaigns in the Third Qualifying round; both sides progressed to the group stages and won their respective groups. Liverpool and A.C. Milan beat former champions on their way to the final. A.C. Milan beat 1967 champions Celtic, four-time champions FC Bayern Munich, and 1999 winners Manchester United. Liverpool beat defending champions FC Barcelona and 1988 winners PSV Eindhoven. Liverpool also beat Chelsea F.C. in the semi-final stage for the second time in three years.

Before the match there were ticketing problems due to a large number of fans gaining entry to the stadium without tickets. After the match, a UEFA spokesman accused Liverpool of having the worst fans in Europe, a claim later denied by UEFA president Michel Platini.

Route to the final

Further information: [[:UEFA Pokémon game features

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Pokerus) Jump to: navigation, search Merge arrow It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Pokémon game mechanics. (Discuss) This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (July 2007)

Several game features have been introduced throughout the Pokémon video games' history. These features, or Easter eggs have played roles not only in the video games, but also the globally televised anime. They differ from the mechanics of the games in that they do not actually affect gameplay, but instead augment the mechanics or provide a diversion. Contents [hide]

   * 1 Mystery Gift
   * 2 Pokérus
   * 3 References
   * 4 External links

[edit] Mystery Gift

Mystery Gift, a means by which players can receive items from other people, was introduced in Pokémon Gold and Silver. In these games and Pokémon Crystal, the player must first activate the feature by speaking to a girl in Goldenrod City. Then, if two players line up the infrared ports on their Game Boy Color units and activate the feature from the intro menu, each will receive an item. Players can use Mystery Gift an unlimited number of times, but only once per day with each person. In addition, a player of Pokémon Stadium 2 with a Gold, Silver, or Crystal cartridge plugged into the Transfer Pak can use Mystery Gift with a girl in White City. A Mystery Gift can also be received by connecting with a Pocket Pikachu 2 GS.[1]

In the third generation games (Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed, and LeafGreen), Mystery Gift is activated by filling out a questionnaire found in PokéMarts. Instead of being used to receive items from other players, it is a means to obtain special items at Nintendo's promotional events, which allow the player to catch otherwise unobtainable Pokémon, such as Mew and Deoxys.[2]

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl expand Mystery Gift to include a variety of transferring options. After enabling Mystery Gift by speaking to a man in Jubilife City (the player enters: EVERYONE HAPPY & WI-FI CONNECTION to enable Mystery Gift), players may obtain items via wireless or Nintendo wi-fi connection, and may also transfer them to friends. Wireless connection also allows the player to transfer items from Pokémon Battle Revolution. Currently, Mystery Gift via NWC has not been implemented.[3]

[edit] Pokérus

Pokérus (a portmanteau of Pokémon and virus) is a rare virus introduced in Pokémon Gold and Silver. It is extremely infectious in nature, being able to spread between Pokémon of different species. The only cure for Pokérus is to wait for a period of 48 hours. Infected Pokémon can be traded to Pokémon Red and Blue, but because Pokérus does not exist in these games, it cannot be contracted or spread when traded. However, the effects of the Pokérus are still applied. Similarly, a Pokémon with the Pokérus cannot be cured while in these two games. In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Pokérus is displayed as a purple rectangle stating Pokérus in the Summary window.

Despite being a virus, Pokérus is beneficial to its hosts. Pokérus accelerates the hidden statistical development of Pokémon (that is, its training) by making it gain effort values at twice the speed. This effect is cumulative with the Macho Brace, and an infected Pokémon with such an item effectively trains at four times its normal rate. In the third generation games, where training is capped to a maximum, the Pokérus does not raise this maximum limit. The overall effect on a Pokémon's strength is thus negligible, as a Pokémon can be fully trained with or without Pokérus. It is, however, easier to fully develop a Pokémon's skills with Pokérus because it reduces the number of battles needed to fully train the Pokémon.

Pokérus is mainly contracted from battles; there is a 2 in 65,535 chance of contracting Pokérus in battle. If a Pokémon in the active party has Pokérus, in each round of battle there is a 1 in 2 chance (1 in 3 in the third generation) that an adjacent Pokémon on the team will contract the Pokérus. The active Pokémon can also contract Pokérus in this manner if the first "bench member" has the Pokérus.

Pokérus is cured after 48 hours on the party from the time of infection; Pokémon cannot be cured of Pokérus if left in a PC box or are traded to Pokémon Stadium 2 or Pokémon Box. It also appears that Pokérus will not stop being contagius even after twenty-four hours in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. Once Pokérus' effects end, the host develops an immunity to it and Pokerus can no longer be transmitted. However, the accelerated stat growth remains; the Pokémon only loses the ability to spread it.

Pokérus was mentioned in the Pokemon Chronicles episode "Oaknapped" as a lifeform that Team Rocket was looking for to accelerate their evolution process.Champions League 2006-07]]

A.C. Milan

Milan came up against Red Star Belgrade, the 1991 European Cup winners, in the Third Qualifying Round. Milan won the first leg 1–0, after Filippo Inzaghi scored. The second leg in Belgrade was won 2–1 by Milan, with the goals coming from Inzaghi and Clarence Seedorf.

AC Milan v Lille in Group H

A.C. Milan were placed in Group H, along with AEK Athens, Anderlecht and Lille. Milan's first match in the group was against AEK Athens, at Milan's home ground, the San Siro. Milan won the match 3–0, thanks to goals from Inzaghi on 17 minutes, Gourcuff on 41 minutes and a Kaká penalty on 76 minutes. Milan's second match was against French club Lille; the match was drawn 0–0, which left Milan with four points from their two matches. Milan's next two matches were against Belgian club Anderlecht. The first match was played at Anderlecht's home ground, the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium. Milan won the match 1–0, thanks to a goal on 58 minutes from Kaká. The return match against Anderlecht ended in a 4–1 victory for Milan with Kaká scoring a hat trick, and Alberto Gilardino adding a fourth goal late on in the game. Milan's final two matches in their group resulted in defeats. Milan's first defeat came at the hands of AEK Athens, who won 1–0 thanks to a goal from Júlio César, although Milan still went through to the knockout stages because the other match between Anderlecht and Lille finished level. Milan's last match in the group stages resulted in a 2–0 defeat by Lille, which meant that Lille would finish as runners-up to Milan in Group H.

Milan faced Celtic in the first knockout round. The first leg in Glasgow ended in a 0–0 draw, with the best opportunity to score falling to Alberto Gilardino; however, a reflex save from Artur Boruc denied him. The second leg went in to extra time, after both sides failed to find a winner in normal time. The winner came three minutes into the first half of extra time, when Kaká ran half the length of the pitch and put his shot through Boruc's legs to send Milan into the quarterfinals.

Milan were drawn against Bayern Munich of Germany in the quarter-finals. The first leg was held at the San Siro, and ended in a 2–2 draw. Milan had opened the scoring when Andrea Pirlo headed in Oddo's chip, but Bayern equalised on 78 minutes, when Daniel van Buyten volleyed home a Pizarro knock down off Salihamidžić's cross. However, Milan once again went ahead, this time through Kaká, who converted the penalty given after Lucio brought him down. Van Buyten equalised again, though, when he scored an injury time equaliser to bring the score back to 2–2. The second leg at the Allianz Arena was won by Milan, who scored two goals in four minutes in the first half, to claim a 4–2 aggregate victory over the German side.

Milan faced English opposition in the semi-finals in the shape of Manchester United. The first leg at Old Trafford was won 3–2 by United, after Dida palmed Cristiano Ronaldo's goal bound header into the net on five minutes. Milan equalised on 22 minutes, after Seedorf put through Kaká. He then sent his shot through the legs of Heinze, and beyond the dive of van der Sar. 15 minutes later Kaká put Milan 2–1 up, when he carried the ball past Heinze and as the Argentinean and Patrice Evra collided, Kaká tucked it past van der Sar. Wayne Rooney restored parity for United on 59 minutes, and then got the winner in injury time, after his low first-time shot beat Dida in the Milan goal. Milan won the second leg 3–0, with goals from Kaká on 11 minutes, Seedorf on 30 minutes and Gilardino on 78 minutes sending the Rossoneri through to their eleventh Champions League final.

Liverpool F.C.

Liverpool faced Maccabi Haifa in the Third Qualifying Round. The first leg was held at Anfield and Maccabi took the lead on 29 minutes when Gustavo Boccoli scored. Liverpool drew level within four minutes, when Craig Bellamy responded quickest to Momo Sissoko's parried shot. Liverpool won the match late in the game, when Mark González scored within two minutes of coming on as a substitute, to give them a 2–1 aggregate lead going into the second leg. Maccabi scored first in the second leg, with Alain Masudi scoring on 22 minutes. This meant the aggregate score was 2–2, which would have sent Maccabi through on the away goals rule. However, Liverpool equalised on 54 minutes, when Peter Crouch headed in Jermaine Pennant's cross. The 3–2 aggregate victory meant Liverpool secured their place in the group stage.

Liverpool were drawn in Group C, alongside Bordeaux, Galatasaray and PSV Eindhoven. Liverpool's first match in the group was against PSV, which ended in a 0–0 draw. Steven Gerrard had the best chance of the match, his volley hitting the inside of the post with two minutes to go. The Reds' second match was against Galatasaray, and they went ahead on nine minutes when Peter Crouch volleyed in Fábio Aurélio's cross. Liverpool's lead was doubled six minutes later, when Luis Garcia headed in Pennant's cross. It was 3–0 on 52 minutes when Crouch scissor kicked Finnan's cross into the back of the net. However, Galatasaray pulled two goals back through Ümit Karan to set up a tense finale, but Liverpool held on to record a 3–2 victory. Liverpool's next two matches in the group were against Bordeaux of France. The first match was played in France, and ended in a 1–0 victory for Liverpool, after Crouch headed in Bellamy's corner on 58 minutes. The second match against Bordeaux also ended in a victory for Liverpool. This time the score was 3–0, courtesy of two goals from Luis Garcia, and one from Steven Gerrard, which sent Liverpool into the knockout stages. Liverpool's next match was against PSV. Liverpool won the match 2–0, thanks to goals from Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard, to ensure they finished top of Group C. Liverpool's last match in Group C was against Galatasaray. The match, played at the scene of Liverpool's 2005 Champions League triumph, ended in a 3–2 defeat for the Reds.

Liverpool's opponents in the first knockout round were the current champions FC Barcelona. The first leg was at the Camp Nou, Barcelona went ahead on 14 minutes through a header from Deco. Liverpool equalised on 43 minutes when Craig Bellamy headed in. Bellamy celebrated by playing an imaginary golf shot, a reference to an incident at the team's Algarve hotel a week before the match, after Bellamy brandished a golf club at Riise. Then on 74 minutes, Liverpool went ahead after Riise scored. The second leg was won 1–0 by Barcelona after Eiður Guðjohnsen scored on 75 minutes, however Liverpool went through on the away goals rule.

Liverpool v Barcelona in the First Knockout Round

Liverpool faced the team that finished below them in Group C in the quarter-finals; PSV Eindhoven. The first leg at the Philips Stadion ended in a 3–0 victory for Liverpool, after goals from Gerrard on 27 minutes, Riise on 49 minutes and Crouch on 63 minutes. However Fábio Aurélio was carried off later in the game, with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Liverpool won the second leg 1–0, after a goal from Peter Crouch on 67 minutes, to ensure a 4–0 aggregate victory, which sent Liverpool into the semi-finals.

Liverpool faced familiar opposition in the semi-finals, in the form of Chelsea F.C. This was the second time in three years the two sides had met at the semi final stage. Chelsea won the first leg 1–0 after Joe Cole scored on 29 minutes. This represented, the first time in a UEFA Champions League semi-final, that Chelsea had a lead to defend in the return leg. The second leg in Liverpool went all the way to penalties, after Daniel Agger had scored on 22 minutes to tie the aggregate score at 1–1. With no further goals in normal time the game went into extra time. Dirk Kuyt found the net in the first half of extra time, however his strike was ruled out for offside. No one else found the net in extra time, so penalties beckoned at the Anfield Road End. After Boudewijn Zenden had scored Liverpool's first attempt, Reina guessed right to save Arjen Robben's effort. Xabi Alonso, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard scored the next penalties, before Geremi saw his penalty saved by Reina to leave Kuyt to score the final penalty. This secured Liverpool a 4–1 victory on penalties.

Knockout stage

A.C. Milan			Liverpool
Celtic A 0–0		First Knockout Round First Leg		FC Barcelona A 2–1	Bellamy 43' Riise 74'
Celtic H 1–0 (a.e.t.)	Kaká 93'	Second Leg		FC Barcelona H 0–1
Bayern Munich H 2–2	Pirlo 40' Kaká 84'(pen)	Quarter Finals First Leg		PSV Eindhoven A 3–0	Gerrard 27' Riise 49' Crouch 63'
Bayern Munich A 2–0	Seedorf 27' Inzaghi 31'	Second Leg		PSV Eindhoven H 1–0	Crouch 67'
Manchester United A 2–3	Kaká 22' 37'	Semi Finals First Leg		Chelsea A 0–1
Manchester United H 3–0	Kaká 11' Seedorf 30 Gilardino 78'	Second Leg		Chelsea H 1–0 Liverpool won 4–1 on penalties	Agger 22'

Problems before the match

Out of 63,800 tickets, only 9,000 tickets for the final went on general sale, the remainder were shared between the two teams who got 17,000 each, and the UEFA family and sponsors who received 20,800 tickets. This led to some of the problems before the match. While fans were still queuing to gain entry to the stadium, the Greek police informed them that the stadium was full and denied entry to a number of fans who had genuine tickets. UEFA sources said that as many as 5,000 fans either without tickets or brandishing fakes had entered the 74,000-capacity Olympic Stadium. Simultaneously, thousands of fans with genuine tickets were refused entry as police closed the entrance to the ground amid fears that allowing any more to enter could have led to a disaster. The resulting situation became disorderly, with some Liverpool fans attempting to break through checkpoints, set up by the Greek police. Greek riot police used tear gas and batons to disperse the crowd. UEFA spokesman William Gaillard blamed Liverpool fans for causing the problems, stating, "Milan supporters didn't face the same problems because they didn't behave in the same way". A UEFA report released soon after the final branded Liverpool supporters "the worst fans in Europe", with Gaillard stating: "What other set of fans steal tickets from their fellow supporters or out of the hands of children?" However, UEFA President Michel Platini later admitted that Liverpool fans were, in fact, not the worst behaved in Europe. UEFA was itself criticised for poor ticket-checking procedures and for implementing insufficient measures to deal with the large number of fans. Simon Gass, the British ambassador to Greece, said, "Clearly there was some element of breakdown where those fake tickets appeared to be legitimate - that's something UEFA must look at." Meanwhile, Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks described UEFA's allocation of only 17,000 tickets to the two teams, knowing that Liverpool would be bringing 40,000 supporters, as "insane" and accused Gaillard of blaming Liverpool fans in order to cover up for his own mistakes. UEFA was further criticised by A.C. Milan and Liverpool for their lack of provision for their disabled fans, providing the clubs with only sixteen disabled tickets each.

Match ball

Further information: Adidas Finale

Adidas, the official match ball supplier to all major UEFA, FIFA and IOC tournaments, unveiled the official match ball for the 2007 UEFA Champions League final on 9 March, 2007 presenting the Adidas Finale Athens. The design of the Adidas Finale Athens is based on the widely recognisable UEFA Champions League Starball logo and is blue and white, representing the colours of the Greek national flag.

Match summary

File:070523 2142a.JPG

Opening ceremony from Gate 31

Liverpool and A.C. Milan had the two highest scorers that season in Kaká, who finished top of the scoring charts with ten goals, and Peter Crouch, who scored six goals in total.

A.C. Milan chose to wear their all-white strip for the final, despite being drawn as the "home" team for the match. They consider the kit to be lucky (Italian: maglia fortunata), having won the European Cup five times in this kit. However, Milan have lost finals wearing this kit twice, most recently against Liverpool in 2005. This decision by Milan meant that Liverpool played the final in their traditional home kit of red shirts, red shorts and red socks. Each of Liverpool's five European Cup titles have been won in their all-red strip, and two of these came when they were playing against Italian teams who played in all-white.

A.C. Milan fielded the oldest starting eleven ever in a Champions League final, with the average age at 31 years, 34 days, while Paolo Maldini was the oldest outfield player ever in a final at 38 years and 331 days. Liverpool fielded five of the players that started the 2005 final, those players were; Xabi Alonso, Jamie Carragher, Steve Finnan, Steven Gerrard and John Arne Riise.

The British bookmaker Ladbrokes rated the chance of a repeat of the 2005 Champions League Final; 3–0 to Milan at half-time, 3–3 at the end of normal time and Liverpool to win on penalties, at 2007-1.

First half

The first half started off scrappily, as a number of fouls were given away in the early minutes. The first meaningful effort on goal came in the ninth minute when Jermaine Pennant dispossessed Marek Jankulovski, putting himself through on goal, but his scuffed shot was saved by Dida. Milan fought back with Pirlo coming close to putting Inzaghi through on goal, Pepe Reina saved a Kaká shot on 17 minutes. In the following minutes both John Arne Riise and Xabi Alonso missed the target with shots from distance, while Massimo Oddo and Marek Jankulovski were causing problems down the flanks. In the 35th minute, Pennant once again broke away down the right after stealing the ball off Paolo Maldini, and put in a good ball for Kuyt, whose shot was blocked. Unlike the previous encounter in 2005, however, the first half had only one goal, scored against the run of play by A.C. Milan's forward Filippo Inzaghi. The goal came in the 45th minute after a deflection from an Andrea Pirlo free kick, given after Alonso had brought down Kaká. The deflection resulted in the ball being diverted past Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina, who had dived the other way in anticipation of the ball's original trajectory. Replays showed that the ball struck Inzaghi's upper arm on its way to the goal, however the referee did not judge this to have been handball. Inzaghi later said that while the deflection was intended, he did not intend for the ball to hit his arm.

Second half

Liverpool played cautiously immediately after the break, although they continued to hold the possession. In the 62nd minute, Liverpool created their best chance of the match up to that point, as captain Steven Gerrard capitalised on Gennaro Gattuso's error to burst through one-on-one with Dida, but was unable to muster enough power in his shot to beat the Milan goalkeeper. The game continued in the same pattern with the action concentrated in the Milan half, with Liverpool unable to fashion any real goal-scoring efforts. Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez then took off Javier Mascherano, to be replaced by striker Peter Crouch, in an attempt to equalise. However, Mascherano was marking Kaká, and his removal allowed the Brazilian to run free without being heavily marked. Milan then put the game beyond the English side in the 82nd minute when Inzaghi beat the offside trap via a pass from Kaká and put the ball under the onrushing Pepe Reina to make the score 2–0. Dirk Kuyt gave Liverpool hope as he headed in an 89th minute goal from Daniel Agger's flick-on from a corner kick but Milan held on, and the game finished 2–1.

File:Athens Final 2007.jpg

The Olympic Stadium in Athens, venue of the Final

Post-match

The trophy was presented to A.C. Milan captain Paolo Maldini in the Guest of Honour's box, as UEFA President Michel Platini favoured a return to the past tradition of the winning captain receiving the trophy amongst the fans. It had become customary in recent years to have the presentation on a hastily constructed podium in the centre of the pitch. It was the first time that the trophy was presented to a winning captain by a UEFA president who had actually played against him in the past; during Michel Platini's final seasons with Juventus, the then teenager Paolo Maldini was making his professional debut with Milan.

Match details

2007-05-23
20:45 CEST

A.C. Milan	2 – 1	Liverpool F.C.
Inzaghi 45' 82'	(Report)	Kuyt 89'

OACA Spyro Louis Stadium, Athens

Attendance: 74,000

Referee: Herbert Fandel

A.C. Milan

Liverpool F.C.

A.C. MILAN: GK 1 Dida RB 44 Massimo Oddo CB 13 Alessandro Nesta CB 3 Paolo Maldini (c) LB 18 Marek Jankulovski  54'  80' RM 8 Gennaro Gattuso  40' CM 21 Andrea Pirlo CM 23 Massimo Ambrosini LM 10 Clarence Seedorf  90+2' SS 22 Kaká CF 9 Filippo Inzaghi  88' Substitutes: GK 16 Željko Kalac DF 2 Cafu DF 4 Kakha Kaladze  80' DF 19 Giuseppe Favalli  90+2' MF 27 Serginho MF 32 Cristian Brocchi FW 11 Alberto Gilardino  88' Manager: Carlo Ancelotti Man of the Match: Filippo Inzaghi Assistant referees: Carsten Kadach Volker Wezel Fourth official: Florian Meyer

File:AC Milan vs Liverpool.svg

LIVERPOOL: GK 25 José Manuel Reina RB 3 Steve Finnan  88' CB 23 Jamie Carragher  60' CB 5 Daniel Agger LB 6 John Arne Riise DM 14 Xabi Alonso DM 20 Javier Mascherano  58'  78' RM 16 Jermaine Pennant LM 32 Boudewijn Zenden  59' AM 8 Steven Gerrard (c) CF 18 Dirk Kuyt Substitutes: GK 1 Jerzy Dudek DF 2 Álvaro Arbeloa  88' DF 4 Sami Hyypiä MF 7 Harry Kewell  59' MF 11 Mark González FW 15 Peter Crouch  78' FW 17 Craig Bellamy Manager: Rafael Benítez

Statistics

First half

	A.C. Milan	Liverpool
Goals scored	1	0
Total shots	2	5
Shots on target	2	1
Ball possession	58%	42%
Corner kicks	1	1
Fouls committed	6	16
Offsides	1	2
Yellow cards	1	0
Red cards	0	0

Second half

	A.C. Milan	Liverpool
Goals scored	1	1
Total shots	3	7
Shots on target	1	3
Ball possession	47%	53%
Corner kicks	3	5
Fouls committed	8	10
Offsides	2	1
Yellow cards	1	2
Red cards	0	0

Overall

	A.C. Milan	Liverpool
Goals scored	2	1
Total shots	5	12
Shots on target	3	4
Ball possession	53%	47%
Corner kicks	4	6
Fouls committed	14	26
Offsides	3	3
Yellow cards	2	2
Red cards	0	0

• UEFA Full Time Report
• UEFA Full Time Statistics

External links

• Official Champions League Finals Website