“At such moments, they usually say: ‘this is impossible to invent.’ But this time – just the opposite. This is exactly the case that can be invented. If someone said: “think of the most dramatic way to end a football match”, this is what it would look like.
That is why what happened seemed so incredible, stunning and almost absurd: you would have made it up – and immediately dismissed it as too fantastic. Let’s recall the context. At the beginning of the 96th minute of the final match of the Champions League group stage against Real Madrid, Benfica was leading 3:2. At the same time, the Lisbon team took 25th place in the overall table, while the passable position was 24th, which gave the right to enter the playoffs. The most painful thing is that they had the same goal difference with Marseille, but they were inferior in the number of goals scored. To go further, one more ball was needed.
The problem was that they didn’t know about it.
Goalkeeper Anatolii Trubin was clearly wasting his time, preparing for a long time to take a free kick deep in his half of the field. By that time, Jose Mourinho had already removed the entire attacking four from the game, including the two goalscorers Vangelis Pavlidis and Andreas Schelderup. The team simply held on for victory, confident that three points would guarantee the necessary result regardless of the results of other matches.
It was at the moment when Trubin delayed his shot that someone on the Benfica bench realized the truth. All the other matches have already ended: due to long pauses in the first half, their game started six to seven minutes later in the remaining 17 matches. At the time it seemed like a small thing. But it was she who turned out to be decisive. “Benfica” understood: this is not enough. Need one more goal. The previously calm bench instantly turned into chaos – coaches and substitutes waved their hands and shouted at Trubin, demanding to immediately deliver the ball forward. Keeping score no longer made sense.
“When I made the last substitutions, they told me that we had enough,” Mourinho told CBS immediately after the match. – “And in a few seconds they announced that we need one more goal. But I couldn’t change anything…”
In the end, Trubin knocked the ball forward. “Benfica” earned a free kick far to the right. The clock was inexorably approaching the 98th minute. Again a wave of arms – now with the demand that the goalkeeper go to the opponent’s penalty area. Classic “Hail Mary”. A gesture of despair. That never works.
Fredrik Aursnes served in the penalty area. Time seemed to slow down. The presentation was good. No, great. But no matter what the canopy was, the impossible was not supposed to happen. Trubin jumped – and, it seemed, slightly miscalculated the moment. He leaned forward too much. It was the jump of a person who was not used to jumping like this.
But the ball slid across his forehead. He flew towards the gate. Did he… fly into the goal? No. It can’t be.
Football is a beautiful, life-affirming and spectacular game, but very rarely do all the storylines converge at one point to create such a moment. “We’re not strong with headers, but the big lad went forward and scored a fantastic goal,” Mourinho dryly remarked.
This part of Lisbon instantly turned into a seething mass of bodies, emotions and screams. Trubin ran back the way goalkeepers run after scoring a goal: not understanding what to do next, because this almost never happens to them. His face showed surprise, almost bewilderment. He ran twenty meters – and disappeared under a pile of partners, many of whom ran onto the field from the bench.
Later, the goalkeeper of “Real” Thibaut Courtois found the Ukrainian and hugged him: even when another goalkeeper scores a goal for you in the 98th minute, it is impossible not to recognize the greatness of the moment.
Meanwhile, Mourinho ran to the side, away from the crowd. A ball boy who was no more than 13 years old ran up to him and they celebrated together. Now that the noise has subsided a little and the heart rate has returned to normal, I want to say to this boy: “Don’t get used to it. That just doesn’t happen.”
“Benfica” deserved it. In the first 70 minutes, she was noticeably better than the opponent: the score 4:1 at the break would not seem unfair. In the last 20 minutes, the team settled down and Mourinho seemed reluctant to refer to the bench – probably due to a lack of quality options.
“Real” increased the pressure, especially against the background of compensated time and the results of other matches, due to which Madrid fell out of the top 8 and lost a direct ticket to the next round. Everything looked like an evening of noble, beautiful defeat for “Benfica”. And then Trubin happened.
Benfica’s playoff opponent will be known during the draw on Friday. It can be “Real” or another former club of Mourinho – “Inter”. This moment in itself would be great without the tournament context. But he may have saved the entire season.
A few weeks ago, Benfica was eliminated from both cup tournaments. In the championship, it is only third, 10 points behind the leader “Porto”. Last weekend, about 200 ultras came to the training base, demanding an explanation from President Rui Kosta. The atmosphere around the club is far from ideal. This moment relieved her a little.
“Benfica lose – and we can be destroyed again,” Mourinho said after the match in his trademark style. – “All I want is a little respect.”
At least for a while he got it,” the journalist concluded his article.
Source: sport.ua