The Wait is over!!! The English Premier League started this saturday and we already have a few tight matches. One such tension filled match was David v Goliath - WiganAthletic v Chelsea. The champions v the underdogs.
WIGAN ATHLETIC - very few people had heard about this team before August 14th, 2005. They are a newly promoted side in the Premiership. Every season 3 bottom teams from the Premier League
get relegated and their place is taken by 3 new teams. This season, 2005/06, the 3 new teams are West Ham, Sunderland and Wigan. West Ham and Sunderland had been Premiership teams some seasons back, before they were relegated, but Wigan??? Never heard about them!!! Who are Wigan Athletic? All these questions were answered on August 14th, 2005.
Sunday, August 14th, 2005 - The biggest day in the history of the Club. The day they make their Premiership debut. Their opponents - defending champions Chelsea . Jose Mourinho’s men in blue were riding high after their success against the Gunners in the Community Shield match! The ’’experts’’ were backing Chelsea to wallop Wigan. This was going to a walk in the park for Chelsea. It was like throwing slaves at hungry lions!! But they were all proved wrong by the gutsy Wigan side who put on a spirited performance. They stood up bravely to the challenge thrown at them by the champions.
For 90 minutes, this gutsy side denied Chelsea and it looked like they will take a point off Chelsea. Hernan Crespo, back in Chelsea after a successful season in Italy saved the day for Chelsea. But they day belonged to the underdogs. Wigan proved that they were there - in the top league, to make enemies and to win matches. I am sure it wont be long before they beat one of the top sides. They have the players with the game and the big match temperament. They frustrated Chelsea with their clever use of the short passes and defended well whenever Chelsea threatened to score. While Chelsea struggled to break the Wigan defence, the Wigan midfield and strikers combined beautifully to take the attack to the Chelsea goal.
Chelsea may have won the match, but the scoreline never tells the whole truth. The truth is Chelsea won the match, but Wigan won the hearts of people who watched this amazing , cracker of a match. It was a high pressure stiuation, and Wigan handled the pressure beautifully. At no point in the match, did they look like they are going to wilt under pressure.
Watch out for this team - Wigan Athletic and their manager Paul Jewell, for this is the team that almost upset Chelsea. This is their first season and they should take each match as their first, learn from the mistakes of the previous matches. They have a long way to go, the season has just started. They do have some good players in their team, like Henri Camara, Stephane Henchoz, De Zeuw and their goalie, Polit. They should continue the momentum and play this beautifully in all their matches. They look like a well set unit, as they combined well to create some very good openings.
It was truly the day of the underdog. An amazing debut for this young and talented side.
Go Wigan....