Thursday, March 16, 2006
Roma 2 Boro 1 (2-2 agg - Boro win on away goals)
The most glorious night for Boro since the Carling cup final in Cardiff was a night that will live very long in the memory. There was more than a little hope, going into Rome with a slender advantage, knowing that their top strikers were all out injured and that an away goal would leave them needing three. We were also well aware that overly defensive tactics would not work. From the kick-off it was a high octane game, with some very nervy end to end stuff, as the Italians looked to quickly put the game in their hands. Southgate, Riggott, Schwarzer and most of the midfield did a terrific job containing them for the first half hour, however, and when Jimmy popped up on the counter with a glancing header there can't have been a Boro fan not screaming in delight and thinking that it was all but over.The bad news was that their main danger man, Mancini, was having a real going night and came up with a skillful equaliser just before the half. Even so, two more for them looked unlikely on the balance of play, especially when the lads held firm during some big opening gambits in the early minutes of the second half. Everything changed on 64 minutes, though, as a contentious penalty went the way of the favourites, a chance not wasted by Mancini to bring Roma within one of going through with a full 25 minutes to play. By now I was pretty drunk so the nerves weren't as bad as you might imagine - it just felt like our night, and as our big Aussie keeper began to repel every effort with skill and confidence I knew it was in the bag. Still, there was no little relief at the final whistle, and a huge amount of pride. Anyone can say what they like about Boro this season now - we are the team that knocked out Roma to reach the quarter finals of the Uefa cup.
So, our furthest foray into Europe and an unbelievable chance to go on to the final with the good news from the draw being a favourable tie against Basel of Switzerland, with the winner going on to face one of the Bucharest sides in the semi - and we have to be favourites for all those games! Hats off to the team on the night and the entire squad for putting us in this position - there have been some world class performances out there on the way and we deserve it 100%. Come On Boro.
My MOTM: Vital goal from Jimmy, but Schwarzer gets the vote for courage under fire to see us through safely.
