The perfect appetiser for the main event By MSN's Matt Ball
Last updated May 18 2006
Hold on, what is that noise? It sounds like high-pitched whining.
Ah, I know what it is. It is Thierry Henry's post-match interview after his team lost the Chamions League final.
I have never heard the Arsenal captain complain about anything before - and I loved it.
Not because I wanted Arsenal to lose (I did not, I follow the rule of supporting every British club playing in Europe) but because it was the perfect end to a night of great football and high drama.
And we can expect more of the same in Germany this summer: exciting matches full of tension and passion, great players, controversial refereeing decisions, elation, dejection, post-match interviews, and, of course, high-quality punditry and newspaper headlines.
Here is how the Champions League final served up a tasty appetiser for the main event in June.
Exciting match: Arsenal were down to 10 men after German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was sent off (note to Jens: please can we have a repeat performance next month?). And yet they led 1-0 and were desperately hanging on with an admirable defensive display. Cue two late goals by Barcelona and the Gunners' hearts were broken.
Great players: Ronaldinho, Deco, Henry. All three will be showing off their talents at the World Cup. ITV commentator Clive Tyldesley noted that there were 16 players representing 12 countries who would be at the World Cup (I did not count them myself as I trust Clive to be on top of such matters). And for England fans it was good news as Ashley Cole put in a reasonable appearance. And even Sol Campbell turned up.
Controversial refereeing decisions: could the man in black have waited to see if Barcelona would score instead of immediately blowing his whistle when Lehmann committed that foul? It would have allowed Barcelona to take maximum advantage from the situation and avoided the need to send off the goalkeeper*. Well maybe he could have done(football buffs will recall Manchester United scoring under similar circumstances on their run to the final in 1999 - the referee let play continue and a goal was scored) but he did not wait so off went Lehmann and Barcelona failed to score from the resulting free kick.
Elation and dejection: unsurprising to see it at the end of a final but I always feel the winners are too smug and the losers too sad.
Top-quality punditry: where do I start (it was on ITV, after all)? First up was Andy Townsend's Tactics Table, a bizarre piece of bright blue furniture placed by the side of the pitch behind which Andy and Ally McCoist stood in almost identical suits saying nothing of any consequence. At half-time Townsend offered this piece of purple prose about Arsenal's goal: "And big Sol...bang!"
Next came Clive Tyldesley with this gem: "The enigmatic Thierry Henry - expressive as ever."
Clive was followed by David Pleat who, noting that Arsenal were leading 1-0 with fewer than 20 minutes remaining, said: "The sight is within end [sic]." Less than a minute later Samuel Eto'o had equalised.
Newspaper headlines: three of my favourites from Thursday morning were:
Daily Mirror: Kicked up the Barca
The Sun: Barc de Triomphe
The Times: Les Miserables
Post-match interviews: Arsenal's captain complained bitterly about the referee while conveniently failing to mention the lamentable decision to award Arsenal a free-kick (from which Sol Campbell had scored) after Eboue's blatant dive. Thierry Henry? Lenny Henry more like. Brilliant - more of the same next month, please.
So say cheerio to the Champions League and bring on the World Cup. We can't wait...
* For those who are interested in such matters, if play had been allowed to continue, Lehmann could not have been sent off for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity - because a goal would have been scored. The most likely outcome would have been a booking for unsporting behaviour (tripping an opponent in a careless manner). | 
