Mission Impossible

By Stephen 18
May 28 2004

Question. As one of the biggest outsiders in the FA Cup’s illustrious history, how on earth do you go about winning a final against the biggest team in the world?

Every other football league club was looking in on Millwall’s day in the sun on May 22 with an odd feeling of contradiction.

Yes, they would all have loved to swap places with Dennis Wise’s privileged men on one of the biggest days of the year, but would they really have been as keen to put their reputation on the line against the might of Manchester United?

What other division one side would have wanted to put themselves in the media firing line with almost a dozen of their first team squad missing?

How many Nationwide outfits would have gratefully bit your hand at the prospect of combating the brilliance of the ever-escalating stature of Cristiano Ronaldo in the best form of his English career?

Who would have fancied enduring the inevitable belittling, degradation and sniping that would occur as the consequence of an expected defeat?

Last Saturday was far more than Millwall playing the biggest game of their history.

Their performance was viewed as a major milestone within the context of the FA Cup as a whole.

Around the world everybody was desperate to see if the competition could be re-ignited to reach heights that many thought were consigned to the past.

The Lions’ own moment of destiny was nothing compared to what a victory could have meant to the significance of one of the world’s most famous competitions.

A Millwall win and things would have never been the same again, so there was a huge responsibility on the Lions brought at the Millennium Stadium, and one few clubs would have wanted the burden of.

Evidence of this was the slating Millwall got from sections of the national press after Saturday’s 3-0 defeat.

With a typical lack of perspective, the tabloids loudly proclaimed that Millwall were ‘The worst team to ever play in a cup final’ and that it was ‘The most one-sided cup final in living memory.’

No matter how hard you looked, there was absolutely no mention of the 1997 final where Middlesbrough were dead and buried within a minute, or the 1999 spectacle where Newcastle barely ventured into Manchester United’s half, never mind look likely to score.

Yet it is conveniently forgotten that for 44 minutes of this game, the spectacle of an unbelievable upset was one that still loomed large.

Back to the original question on how Wise would go about the task, and his gameplan was to adapt the well-used cliché of taking each game as it comes, to that of looking no further than the next five minutes.

By getting men behind the ball, and trying desperately to deprive their Premiership opponents of space to create chances, the idea was to keep reaching the next landmark without conceding, and hope upon hope that something would materialise at the other end.

Up to the landmark 44th minute, it all seemed to be working surreally well for Wise’s troops. The closest United came was when Andy Marshall made an outstanding save from Roy Keane’s self teed up volley on 23 minutes, but this was only the precursor to Millwall’s best passage of play.

Paul Ifill had a genuine penalty shout under Wes Brown’s tackle, and Tim Cahill then beat the offside trap to jump with goalkeeper Tim Howard as a left wing cross flew over.

Peter Sweeney created both chances, and it was around about this time that the left winger and his partner on the opposite flank Paul Ifill, were beginning to cause a few problems.

On 37 minutes Ifill created panic by brilliantly turning John O’Shea, before a covering defender blocked his goalbound shot.

The contest between Ifill and O’Shea was one of the best individual battles on the pitch, but the United left back made sure that he was not left exposed again.

As the half drew to a close, Alex Ferguson’s gifted men gained the upper hand, and with all eyes focussed on the clock, Ronaldo stole in at the back post to nod home Gary Neville’s right wing cross to stick a dagger through 21,400 hearts.

If only the Lions could have reached the interval on level terms. If only.

Wise now had it all to do at half time. Psychologically he faced the colossal task of breathing new life into disappointed minds, and tactically he had to decide whether to put another man up front to partner Neil Harris.

He decided to stick with the same eleven, and United’s superiority grew ever stronger.

The Wise v Keane clash that had been the main talk pre-match, failed to live up to expectations.

Instead, the Millwall player manager’s grapple with Paul Scholes caught the eye, but the United midfielder began to come into the game more as the game wore on.

Such was United’s dominance, that it was only a matter of time before they increased the lead, and though David Livermore’s two footed tackle on Ryan Giggs on 64 minutes was vehemently contested by Millwall’s players, it appeared to be a clear penalty.

Ruud Van Nistelrooy clinically struck home the spot kick, and from then it really was a case of damage limitation.

Millwall’s superb fans took centre stage as the game died as a contest, as, but Van Nistelrooy was still able to wrap the game up with a tap in from a Giggs cross that hinted of offside.

Every Lion should be proud of the effort they put into the game, and the club’s debilitating injury crisis was summed up by the introduction of Curtis Weston in the last minute to make him the youngest player ever to appear in an FA Cup Final.

It was a fitting gesture to end an historic season that has pushed the club to a place they thought they would never see.

This was an occasion to live with the players forever, and just like the Millwall fans, there was nothing more they could have given on the day.