Post by Natty on May 23, 2008 14:14:40 GMT -1
NICOLAS ANELKA has sensationally revealed he REFUSED to take Chelsea's crucial fifth penalty in the Champions League final.
The striker missed the seventh shootout spot-kick in Moscow to hand Manchester United European football's biggest prize.
But Anelka rejected the chance to take the potential match-winning kick, leaving it to skipper John Terry instead.
Terry slipped and cracked his effort against the post to hand United a vital lifeline — and Le Sulk claims he ducked the opportunity to clinch glory because he was upset at being thrown on as a late substitute.
The Frenchman, 29, said: "I was asked to take one of the first five kicks.
"But I said 'that is out of the question, I have come on basically as a right-back and you want me to take a penalty'.
"So I had to go in seventh but Edwin van der Sar pushed away my shot. All the better for him, that is the game.
"At no point did I think I was going to come on. I was on the bench for 110 minutes and suddenly I am asked to play, not even a minute after I was sent out to warm up.
"I don’t know if that has ever happened in a Champions League final, in a match of that intensity, that a player has gone on to the pitch without having warmed up.
"When you go on, you have to be ready to run."
With Didier Drogba likely to be shown the door after his red-card shame, Anelka has added to the turmoil at Chelsea by insisting he wants to start as the main striker next season.
Drogba has made no secret of his desire to join AC Milan and Anelka believes he is the man to fill the void.
The ex-Arsenal ace, who has mainly been used on the wing since joining the Blues from Bolton for £15million in January, said: "I didn’t come here to play on the left or right.
"When I came here, people told me I would play in a 4-4-2. In England, I no longer need to prove that I am better through the middle.
"Since I arrived, I haven’t played in my position. Never as a No9, always on the left or the right.
"Until now, I haven’t said anything. I was a newcomer, I haven’t wanted to make a story out of it because I still didn’t know the club.
"But from next season, I insist I will no longer be the little newcomer
u could tell hes wanst up to it.
The striker missed the seventh shootout spot-kick in Moscow to hand Manchester United European football's biggest prize.
But Anelka rejected the chance to take the potential match-winning kick, leaving it to skipper John Terry instead.
Terry slipped and cracked his effort against the post to hand United a vital lifeline — and Le Sulk claims he ducked the opportunity to clinch glory because he was upset at being thrown on as a late substitute.
The Frenchman, 29, said: "I was asked to take one of the first five kicks.
"But I said 'that is out of the question, I have come on basically as a right-back and you want me to take a penalty'.
"So I had to go in seventh but Edwin van der Sar pushed away my shot. All the better for him, that is the game.
"At no point did I think I was going to come on. I was on the bench for 110 minutes and suddenly I am asked to play, not even a minute after I was sent out to warm up.
"I don’t know if that has ever happened in a Champions League final, in a match of that intensity, that a player has gone on to the pitch without having warmed up.
"When you go on, you have to be ready to run."
With Didier Drogba likely to be shown the door after his red-card shame, Anelka has added to the turmoil at Chelsea by insisting he wants to start as the main striker next season.
Drogba has made no secret of his desire to join AC Milan and Anelka believes he is the man to fill the void.
The ex-Arsenal ace, who has mainly been used on the wing since joining the Blues from Bolton for £15million in January, said: "I didn’t come here to play on the left or right.
"When I came here, people told me I would play in a 4-4-2. In England, I no longer need to prove that I am better through the middle.
"Since I arrived, I haven’t played in my position. Never as a No9, always on the left or the right.
"Until now, I haven’t said anything. I was a newcomer, I haven’t wanted to make a story out of it because I still didn’t know the club.
"But from next season, I insist I will no longer be the little newcomer
u could tell hes wanst up to it.
