USA fought back from two goals down to earn a battling 2-2 draw with Slovenia and keep their FIFA World Cup hopes alive in an exciting Group C clash at Ellis Park.

Matjaz Kek’s men looked on course for a second straight win in the section when they took a 2-0 lead into the break through Valter Birsa and Zlatan Ljubijankic but the Americans hit back as Landon Donovan narrowed the deficit before Michael Bradley equalised eight minutes from time. The result left Slovenia top of Group C with four points ahead of England’s meeting with Algeria later in the day, and ensured the Americans remain undefeated with two draws ahead of their third game against the Algerians.

An exciting contest opened with Birsa blasting Slovenia into an early lead. There were just 13 minutes on the clock when the midfielder collected the ball some 25 yards from goal and left Tim Howard rooted to the spot with an expertly guided strike to the goalkeeper’s left. Bradley’s men sought a response and came close when midfielder Francisco Torres fired in a free-kick from out wide that drew a fingertip save from Samir Handanovic. Donovan then looked set to tap in Clint Dempsey’s low cross only for Slovenia defender Miso Brecko to get a decisive touch to clear the ball.

Slovenia looked to be in dreamland in the 42nd minute when Ljubijankic doubled their lead. Milivoje Novakovic played a defence-splitting pass through to Ljubijankic who, with the Americans appealing in vain for offside, slipped the ball coolly past Howard. Yet Donovan threw the Americans a lifeline three minutes after the restart when Bostjan Cesar failed to deal with a ball down the right touchline, allowing the LA Galaxy man a free run into the box. Cutting in from the right, Donovan lashed a superb shot high above Handanovic at the near post.

With the Slovenia defence struggling to cope with the power and aerial strength of the imposing Jozy Altidore, Bradley’s men kept the pressure on and the coach’s son grabbed the US the point their efforts deserved – a father-and-son first in the FIFA World Cup. Altidore nodded a high ball down into the path of the onrushing Borussia Moenchengladbach midfielder and he fired emphatically into the roof of the net. The Americans might even have won the game only for referee Koman Coulibaly to rule out a goal from Maurice Edu, who volleyed home Donovan’s free-kick from the right. There was still time for Novakovic to threaten with a header at the other end but his effort was held comfortably by Howard.

Other Information

• Stadium: Ellis Park Stadium
• Attendance:
• Match Time: 14:00 GMT, June 18, 2010
• Official(s): Koman Coulibaly
• Man of the Match: Landon Donovan
• Top Scorer: Valter Birsa (1),  Zlatan Ljubijankic (1), Michael Bradley (1), Landon Donovan
• Score: Slovenia (2), United States (2)

Roster

• Slovenia Squad
• United States Squad

Algeria held England to a goalless draw in the Group C encounter in Cape Town, leaving both sides still with a chance of qualification for the Round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup™. Although most of the play was dominated by England, it was the north Africans, 22 places below Fabio Capello’s men in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, who were the happier of the two teams at the final whistle

All the talk pre-match surrounded Capello’s starting XI, with the Italian selecting David James in favour of Robert Green, the keeper culpable for Clint Dempsey’s equaliser against USA. Out too went James Milner for the fit-again Gareth Barry, while Jamie Carragher deputised for the injured Ledley King. The early signs were encouraging for England who began pressing from the first whistle. Their passing certainly looked crisper than during last Saturday’s 1-1 draw in Rustenburg and they created several good chances during a first half, that while ending goalless, had plenty of entertainment value.

England captain Steven Gerrard had the game’s first real opportunity when he almost caught Rais Mbolhi out with a dipping shot. Then Emile Heskey rose highest from Barry’s inswinging corner from the right, but failed to direct his header on target. The patient build-up, all too infrequent in the Three Lions’ last performance, was proving beneficial. Yet it was by no means one-way traffic. Algeria fired their first warning shot when Karim Ziani’s cross found Hassan Yebda, whose back-header landed comfortably into the grasp of James. Karim Matmour and Ziani also had attempts on goal during a point midway through the opening 45 minutes as the Desert Foxes enjoyed a territorial advantage.

England came to life again thanks to the prompting of Wayne Rooney, who dropped deeper to increase his influence. A move begun by the Manchester United man saw Aaron Lennon find Frank Lampard who forced Mbolhi into a scrambling one-handed save from 12 yards. Barry and Rooney both tested the keeper on the stroke of half time, but Algeria had more than earned parity at the break.

Only some sublime defending from Madjid Bougherra denied Gerrard a clear scoring opportunity after the interval, when Rooney’s intelligent flick-on seemed destined to set up the Liverpool midfielder. As time ticked on, though, England’s frustrations at those missed opportunities grew, never more so than when Gerrard himself passed the ball straight at an Algeria defender, with Rooney and Lampard lurking in the box.

That said, it took a last-gasp intervention from Rafik Halliche to prevent England from taking the lead. Gerrard fed Heskey in the box and with the striker’s shot apparently destined to hit the target or at least present Rooney with the simplest of tap-ins, the defender’s outstretched leg deflected the ball over the bar. From the resulting corner, taken by Lampard, Gerrard’s bullet header was claimed at the first attempt by Mbolhi. England were knocking at the door, but just not finding an answer. Either that, or they were finding the door firmly closed in their face by Bougherra, who was simply outstanding at the heart of the defence.

But the England fans, who made up the majority of the crowd at the Green Point stadium cared little of the merits of the opposition and showed their frustration by booing a wayward Lampard effort and again when the full-time whistle went. Capello, on the occasion of his 64th birthday, left the arena with his head bowed, as did the majority of the England players. It all comes down to the final group matches with England playing current section leaders Slovenia in Port Elizabeth and USA facing Algeria in Pretoria.

Other Information

• Stadium: Green Point Stadium
• Attendance: 64,100
• Match Time: 18:30 GMT, June 18, 2010
• Official(s): Ravshan Irmatov
• Man of the Match : Ashley Cole
• Top Scorer:
• Score: England (0), Algeria (0)

Roster

• England Squad
• Algeria Squad

A 38th-minute Milan Jovanovic goal proved enough for Serbia to edge a Germany side that played the entire second half at a numerical disadvantage and missed a penalty. Joachim Low’s charges had the majority of the possession and chances at Port Elizabeth Stadium, but Miroslav Klose’s dismissal and Lukas Podolski’s failure to beat Vladimir Stojkovic from 12 yards proved costly for a Germany team beaten in a FIFA World Cup™ group game for the first time since 1986.

The result means that Germany, who remain top of Group D on goal difference, Ghana and Serbia all now have three points, while Australia are yet to get off the mark. The Black Stars and the Socceroos will play their second game in Rustenburg tomorrow.

Germany quickly found their rhythm following kick-off, but it was Serbia who had the first meaningful attempt on goal, Zdravko Kuzmanovic executing a firm, low drive from the edge of the box that went two yards wide. The Germans responded instantly, stringing a series of passes together to work the ball out to Mesut Oezil, on the right. The Werder Bremen playmaker duly dinked it through to Sami Khedira, who was promisingly positioned inside the area but unable to keep his volley down. Podolski was next to try his luck, reacting first to Nemanja Vidic’s clearance and sending a thumping volley narrowly wide of Vladimir Stojkovic’s upright.

Serbia then enjoyed a fruitful five-minute spell. Krasic neatly set up Milos Ninkovic, who volleyed over from inside the area. Then Ninkovic skipped around Arne Friedrich and was felled as he approached the Germany penalty area but Radomir Antic’s side wasted the consequent free-kick. The Serbia defence was standing firm against the three-time world champions –  Neven Subotic made one crucial challenge on Khedira, while a Vidic interception denied Klose a run on goal.

Klose did have the ball in the net on the half-hour mark but had strayed marginally offside. The Germany forward’s afternoon reached an early end eight minutes before half-time, however, when following an earlier booking, he received a second yellow card for bringing down Dejan Stankovic from behind, and was duly sent off. Serbia capitalised immediately. Krasic outstripped his marker down the right, got to the byline, and crossed to the back post, where Zigic was hovering. The towering striker nodded the ball back across goal and into the path of Jovanovic, who took it on his chest and fired acrobatically past Manuel Neuer from five yards.

Germany, a man and a goal down, pushed forward and came agonisingly close to restoring parity on the stroke of half-time. From an Oezil corner, Stojkovic could only punch the ball into the path of Khedira, who thumped it against the crossbar from 12 yards. From the rebound, Thomas Mueller produced an overhead kick but Kolarov was intelligently positioned on the line and managed to hook the ball to safety.

Germany raced out of the blocks following the restart. Bastian Schweinsteiger almost went through on goal, but Vidic made a sliding challenge to avert the danger. Oezil then slid Podolski in only for the Cologne ace to power his shot into the side-netting from eight yards. Poldi had a far better opportunity to put his side back on level terms on the hour mark. Vidic unnecessarily handled Arne Friedrich’s cross inside the box, and the referee pointed to the spot, handing the Manchester United centre-back a yellow card. Podolski tried to pass the ball into the bottom corner, but Stojkovic flung himself down to his left and pulled off a great save.

The game flowed from end to end in the remaining 30 minutes. The inventive Krasic worked an opening for himself and forced Neuer into a good save, while the same player also crossed for Zigic, whose header struck the crossbar. Germany’s best opportunities fell to Podolski. Oezil and Mueller combined to free him down the left of the penalty area but he scuffed his shot. He tried again with four minutes remaining but failed to get a good connection on his ten-yard effort. It was not Podolski’s – or Germany’s – afternoon. Serbia, who pipped France to first place in their qualifying group, had once again served notice of their ability to hang with the heavyweights.

Other Information

• Stadium: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
• Attendance: 38,294
• Match Time: 11:30 GMT, June 18, 2010
• Official(s): Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Referee)
• Man of the Match : Milan Jovanovic
• Top Scorer: Milan Jovanovic (1)
• Score: Germany (0), Serbia (1)

Roster

• Germany Squad
• Serbia Squad

Gonzalo Higuain scored a hat trick in Argentina’s 4-1 win over South Korea at the World Cup on Thursday, a result that put the South Americans on the brink of qualifying for the next round from Group B.

Higuain scored his first goal in the 33rd minute with a far post header after Nicolas Burdisso flicked on a cross from Maxi Rodriguez. He added two second-half goals—in the 76th and 80th minutes—to put the result beyond doubt.

Argentina had gone ahead 1-0 in the 17th when Park Chu-young deflected a free kick from Lionel Messi into his own net.

After Higuain’s first goal, Lee Chung-yong pulled one back for South Korea by pouncing on a defensive mistake in first-half injury time.

With Messi playing in a slightly deeper role, Argentina lacked a cutting edge in the opening stages, its main threat coming down the left wing where Carlos Tevez was drifting into space and linking well with Gabriel Heinze and Angel Di Maria.

Higuain, who missed a string of chances against Nigeria, shot high over the bar in the eighth minute and Messi only showed occasional flashes of brilliance as he was man-marked and often found himself closed down by two or three opponents.

However, the South Korean tactics of targeting Messi, so influential in Argentina’s opening match, freed up Tevez, and the combative Manchester City striker was his team’s main inspiration in the first half.

South Korea came close to scoring in the 26th when Ki Sung-yong sent in a swerving shot from outside the box that just cleared the crossbar.

Two minutes later, Messi backheeled a free kick to Tevez, who sent a powerful shot just over the bar.

The match was played in a cold wind, and the South Koreans emerged with more confidence in the second half after they had pulled a goal back.

In the 58th, Yeom Ki-hun almost equalized following a flowing counterattack but put his shot just wide of the left-hand post.

Argentina coach Diego Maradona brought on striker Sergio Aguero in the closing stages, and with 14 minutes left Messi—increasingly breaking free of his markers—skipped past two challenges and shot against the post, but Higuain was on hand to tap in the third goal.

Four minutes later, Messi played in Aguero, who crossed for Higuain to head in the fourth.

Argentina leads Group B with six points from two games, while South Korea, which beat Greece 2-0 in its opening match, has three.

Lineups:

Argentina: Sergio Romero, Martin Demichelis, Gabriel Heinze, Angel Di Maria, Gonzalo Higuain (Mario Bolatti, 82), Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez (Sergio Aguero, 75), Walter Samuel (Nicolas Burdisso, 23), Javier Mascherano, Jonas Gutierrez, Maxi Rodriguez.

South Korea: Jung Sung-ryong, Oh Beom-seok, Cho Yong-hyung, Park Ji-sung, Kim Jung-woo, Park Chu-young, Lee Young-pyo, Lee Jung-soo, Ki Sung-yong (Kim Nam-il, 46), Lee Chung-yong (Lee Dong-gook, 82), Yeom Ki-hun.

Born in the town of Šempeter pri Gorici, he spent his childhood in Nova Gorica, Slovenia. Birsa’s career began at the age of 5, when he started playing for NK Bilje, a small football club of the village of Bilje near Nova Gorica. As he was a talented player, he was soon transferred first to NK Primorje, then to ND Gorica at the age of 17. By the second season he was already the second best striker and one of the best in the Slovenian first league, scoring 27 goals for his home team. In 2006, he signed by French club Sochaux in the Ligue de Football Professionnel, Ligue 1. He was declared the best Slovenian player of 2006 by the leading Slovenian football website.

On 22 January 2009 AJ Auxerre bought on loan until June 2009 from Sochaux the Slovenian striker. On 29 May, it was announced that Auxerre had made the loan permanent.

Australia coach Pim Verbeek told Viduka he could join the squad if he was willing to make a full commitment to the side.

But the striker, out of contract after his English club Newcastle United were relegated from the Premier League last week, told Verbeek he had decided to skip the qualifiers while he contemplated his future.

“He told me that after a difficult season he needed a break from football to consider his future plans,” Verbeek said in a statement.

“Mark is currently out of contract and, while he is deciding what to do next, it would be difficult for him to fully concentrate on these important matches for Australia.”

Viduka captained Australia at the 2006 World Cup in Germany but has not played for his country since the 2007 Asian Cup and missed all the qualifiers so far for the 2010 World Cup.

Australia need one point from their three remaining matches to qualify for the finals in South Africa. They play Qatar away on June 6 before home games against Bahrain on June 10 and Japan a week later.

Viduka turns down Australia

Iniesta returned from a right thigh injury to star in Barcelona’s 2-0 Champions League final win over Manchester United on Wednesday.

Guardiola is worried the Spain international may be rushed back too soon for the tournament in South Africa. Barcelona said their medical staff was already in contact with the national team to oversee a training plan for the coming weeks.

“Be careful with Andres’ injury. It’s a dangerous situation with him having just recovered for the final. We have to take great care of his professional future… because neither the national team nor Barca can afford to lose him,” said Guardiola.

Iniesta was a key player as Barcelona became the first Spanish club to win the treble following Spanish league and Copa del Rey triumphs. The 25-year-old Iniesta was also a regular starter during Spain’s European Championship-winning run last summer.

Spain opens against New Zealand at Rustenburg on June 14.

Iniesta and captain Carles Puyol (ankle) will miss Saturday’s meaningless league finale against Deportivo La Coruna, a fact that left Guardiola clued in on what needed to be done in the offseason: Bring in more players.

“The team will have to be deeper. Next year will be much more complicated for us,” the 38-year-old rookie coach said after completing Barcelona’s most successful year in club history.

Busy schedule

Barcelona will also play for the Club World Cup and Spanish Supercup next season.

Guardiola said the club would be speaking with Samuel Eto’o in the coming days since the Cameroon striker is out of contract after next season.

“He’s a very important player and the entire coaching staff and myself are overjoyed with his work, his effort and his goals,” Guardiola said.

Eto’o, who has scored 35 times in all competitions this season, became only the second player to score in two Champions League finals after opening the scoring at Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

Guardiola said the club would also be looking at whether to retain 35-year-old Sylvinho, who is out of contract after this season.

Guardiola told his team to enjoy the upcoming vacations since next season was likely to be even more difficult.

“Everybody, and it’s normal, will want to beat us,” Guardiola said.

Guardiola warns Spain over Iniesta

Midfielder Frank Lampard capped a dominant display with a stunning second half goal to win Chelsea’s first piece of silverware since 2007.

Lampard’s goal on 72 minutes put his side ahead after Didier Drogba had equalised in the first half after Louis Saha’s stunner opener for Everton after just 25 seconds.

After two previous goalless draws this season in the English Premier League, a tight encounter had been forecast, but a frantic start to the game saw the fastest ever goal in FA Cup final history from Everton’s Saha to put the Toffees straight in the driving seat.

The former Manchester United striker smashed home a left foot drive after Marouane Felliani had teed him up with a header.

However, Chelsea quickly regained their composure and equalised through Drogba on 21 minutes after the Ivorian striker headed home after a cross from Florent Malouda.

The London team continued to dominate proceedings for the rest of the game and it seemed a winning goal was only a matter of time away.

The crucial goal arrived on 72 minutes after Lampard showed a cool head under pressure to beat Tim Howard from distance.

The brilliant Malouda was unlucky not to be awarded a third as his stunning 35-yard strike hit the underside of the bar and crossed the line but the linesman disagreed.

In the end that didn’t matter though as Chelsea comfortably saw the game out to give Guus Hiddink the perfect send-off and to leave David Moyes still looking for his first trophy as a Manager.

Fantastic start

Everton kicked off and immediately went on the attack. The ball came to a possibly offside Stephen Pienaar on the left side, whose cross was weakly headed away by John Obi Mikel. Marouane Fellaini nodded the ball down to an on-rushing Louis Saha who caught the ball beautifully with his left-foot and powered the ball past Cech to make it 1-0 with just 25 seconds on the clock.

Chelsea immediately threw men forward and came close a few times from Michael Essien and Frank Lampard.

Chelsea’s pressure eventually paid off after 21 minutes when Florent Malouda found himself on the left of the Everton penalty area with too much time and space. He measured a perfect cross for Didier Drogba to head into the bottom right-hand corner of the Everton net past a motionless Tim Howard.

That was Drogba’s fifth goal in five domestic finals for Chelsea and his fourth in four appearances at Wembley.

Domination

Chelsea continued to enjoy the lion’s share of the possession after equalising, and Malouda soon found himself all alone on the left-wing again. He decided to go alone this time but his attempt was blocked.

Malouda ran Everton’s Tony Hibbert absolutely ragged for the entirety of the first-half so there was no surprise to see Lars Jacobsen come on for him after the interval.

The Chelsea midfield started the second half as they finished the first, in control. Slick passing continually put pressure on the Everton defence in the early stages and it nearly paid off.

The ever-comfortable Lampard played an inch-perfect pass over the Everton defence, and English Premier League top-goalscorer Nicolas Anelka ran onto it and attempted a deft lob over Tim Howard, but the Frenchman put slightly too much power on the shot and it just cleared the crossbar.

The near-miss seemed to give Everton the impetus to find a goal of their own.

A slip by John Terry gave Tim Cahill a long-range effort, but the Australian shot straight at Petr Cech.

Still Everton continued to push. Chelsea’s first substitute Michael Ballack, who replaced Michael Essien, gave away a free kick which was played to Leighton Baines out on the left and from his cross Louis Saha flashed a header just over.

Again the tide turned and this time the team pushing made it count.

Game over

On 72 minutes, Michael Ballack collected the ball in midfield to find Nicolas Anelka and the slick passing continued to find Frank Lampard. Lampard attempted to round, Everton’s captain, Phil Neville and it doing so cut the ball back, slightly slipped and then smashed the ball home from 25 yards beyond the outstretched arms of Tim Howard.

There was no holding Chelsea back from this point onwards.

Everton’s defence yet again went missing and Chelsea again passed the ball around with all the freedom of the Wembley pitch. Frank Lampard found himself in another shooting opportunity but chose to slip the ball through to the ever-present Florent Malouda, who blazed the ball over after being one-on-one with Tim Howard.

Yet again Chelsea drove forward.

Minutes later Malouda once again found himself without an Everton defender closing him down, but this time in the centre of the pitch. He continued to drive forward, with Everton defenders backing off, inviting him to shoot. And shoot he did. Malouda let fly from 35 yards and the ball cracked against the underside of the bar and bounced down across the line with Tim Howard, again, soundly beaten.

In an attempt to find an extra-time forcing equaliser Everton threw on 19-year-old Dan Gosling, who scored the extra-time winner against Liverpool in the fourth-round, but him and his Everton teammates were helpless as Chelsea comfortably saw out the remainder of the game to win their fifth FA Cup.

Interestingly, Ashley Cole today also claimed his fifth FA Cup winner’s medal, after winning three with Arsenal and now two with Chelsea. No-one has managed that in over 100 years.

Guus has gone

The Chelsea players hailed departing Manager Guus Hiddink as the main reason by this latest success.

“We went 1-0 down within a minute or so but showed a lot of character to come back. After getting the first we dominated the game and I’m just pleased to get the goal that wins the game. Guus has been amazing and he’s a great man, we’ve loved working with him and he deserves this victory,” said Frank Lampard.

About Hiddink, Drogba added, “If you don’t have discipline and friendship in the team you can’t win anything. Guus gives us that.”

David Moyes, rightly so, didn’t seem too disheartened from his team’s performance today. “I look back with a lot of pleasure in getting the team to the final. Chelsea were the better team on the day, I can’t argue with that. Lampard is a big player who scored big goals and that’s what he’s done today. Our team has made progress year on year and we’ll try to keep that going.”

Chelsea wins FA Cup

A worthy champion in a most entertaining 90 minutes of quality soccer.

Final Score: Barcelona 2, Manchester United 0

The Ratings, on a scale of 1 (diabolical) to 10 (world-class):

Manchester United

Goalkeeper

Edwin van der sar
Beaten to short side on Eto’s opening goal. Grade: 4

Defenders

Patrice Evra
Pressed forward a few times in the first 45, created some chances with little result. Grade: 4

Rio Ferdinand
Rock solid in the middle. Grade: 4

Nemanja Vidic
Stellar season for the Serbian may have been ruined when Eto’o cut around him for Barca’s first goal. Grade: 3

John O’Shea
Henry wasn’t much of a challenge — until he was. No threat going forward. Grade: 2

Midfielders

Christiano Ronaldo
Not much room to navigate, still probably the only United player in first 45 to show any initiative. Seemed to lose interest as the result became clear. Didn’t play like the world player of the year. Grade: 3

Anderson
Was on the field but invisible in the first half. Replaced by Tevez for second half. Grade: 2

Ryan Giggs
See above. Grade: 3

Ji-Sung Park
Had little room to run in the first 45. Lifted midway through second half. Grade: 4

Michael Carrick
Some ghastly touches. Grade: 4

Paul Scholes
Late replacement for Giggs. Grade: Incomplete

Forwards

Wayne Rooney
Nonfactor in first 45. Make that the entire 90. Grade: 4

Carlos Tévez
Replaced an ineffective Anderson for second half. Grade: Incomplete

Dimitar Berbatov
Replaced Park in 67th. Grade: Incomplete

Coach

Sir Alex Ferguson
Seemed to be as stunned as his players. Three changes in second half to little effect. Another Premier League title is little solace. Grade: 5

Substitutes/Did Not Play

Tomasz Kuszczak (GK), Nani, Rafael, Jonny Evans.

Barcelona

Goalkeeper

Victor Valdés
Nearly spit the bit early in the game. Goal seemed to settle down everyone in blue and red. Grade: 5

Defenders

Gerald Piqué
Solid, if unspectacular. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Grade: 7

Carles Puyol
Blanketed Rooney in first 45. Played like the veteran captain he is. Grade: 7

Sylvinho
Pressure was on early. Stood up to it. Grade: 7

Yaya Touré
Quiet, confident, impressive. Grade: 7

Midfielders

Andrés Iniesta
The midfield engine that powers Barca. Grade: 8

Sergio Busquets
Unsung stalwart in middle of the field for Barca. Solid, unspectacular, but indispensible.
Grade: 8

Xavi Hernández
With Iniesta, proved to be too much for United to handle in the midfield. Grade: 9

Pedro Rodríguez
Late replacement for Iniesta. Grade: Incomplete

Forwards

Lionel Messi
Simply incredible ball control. Dangerous personified. Lived up to all the hype. Grade: 9

Samuel Eto’o
One chance, one goal. Any questions? Grade: 9

Thierry Henry
Not much of a factor early. Valiant to start after dealing with an injury the past few weeks. Picked up the pace in the second half. Grade: 6

Kieta
Late relief for Henry. Grade: Incomplete

Coach

Pep Guardiola
Whatever he had to say to his club before the game and throughout an incredible season did the trick. With a hobbled defense, he encouraged his players play to their strength, which is going forward. Grade: 10

Substitutes/Did Not Play

José Pinto (GK), Martin Cáceres, Eidur Gujohnsen, Bojan Krkic, Marc Muniesa.

Champions League Final: Player Ratings

“I think the first goal was a killer for us,” Ferguson told ITV. “We started brightly too. We got a bit nervous after that.”

United did make a good start but Samuel Eto’o netted after 10 minutes and the English side faded badly, with their defence looking especially shaky, and Lionel Messi wrapped up victory midway through the second half.

“The first goal didn’t help that’s for sure,” Ferguson said at a news conference. “It gave them the opportunity to keep possession, which they do well.

“We didn’t deal with it well enough. That really was the story. I think there’s a disappointment in the performance and some individuals will say that themselves.”

The Scot, who lashed out at a reporter for asking if he still had the desire to win, could only marvel at Barca’s passing ability.

BAD GOAL

“At the start of game we did really well,” he said. “It was a bad goal to lose. You’ve got to give credit to a very good Barca team. If they get in front of you they’re difficult to beat.

“All the midfield players got possession of the ball and made it very difficult for us to get it back. When we did get possession after the goal we didn’t do well enough with it.”

He added: “They are among the best at what they do. They pursue their philosophy and don’t change.”

United rarely fail to score and Ferguson had no explanation.

“We had plenty of time,” Ferguson told ITV. “We had some half-chances in the second half but in fairness we were beaten by a better team.”

He also told Sky Sports: “They were two bad goals to lose at this level especially when we have really excelled defending this season.”

United central defender Rio Ferdinand said his team, who failed to become the first to defend the trophy in the Champions League era, had not produced their best football.

“I don’t think there’s one of us out there can say we played well to be honest, as individuals or collectively,” he said.

“(The first goal) was a bit of a sucker punch. We’d had a few good chances before that.

“But no excuses, not on today’s performance. They were the better team. Special moments decide these games and they were deserved winners today.”

Defeated Ferguson praises pass masters Barcelona