Coventry City forward Victor Torp thought he scored a last-minute winner against Manchester United in extra time of Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. He thought wrong as his goal would be ruled out for an offside in the build-up.
It was a goal everyone will remember despite not technically existing because United went on to win the penalty shootout.
Torp believes Coventry were close to creating something ‘magical’.
He told Tipsbladet: “It’s a bit surreal to think about how close we were to creating something completely magical. I don’t think it has fully dawned on me how close we were to making something huge. Even though I feel like we did something massive, there was just that happy ending missing from the story, unfortunately.
“I didn’t have much time to warm up. I was on my way down to get the blood flowing in my legs, and then I’m told I have to go in. I didn’t have time to think, other than hopefully I could contribute some positive energy and optimism – we were just behind 3-0.
“I just had to go in and give it a chance and play my game, and then we’d see what happened. It turned out to be a bit more than one dared to hope for. It was some absolutely insane minutes to play. Personally, I’m doing quite well, and I have some shots and a header that I hit well, maybe a bit too centrally. I’m trying to come in and contribute with that, and we turn 3-0 into 3-3, so it works out pretty well.
“Haji (Wright, ed.) is played down and puts a ball across. Instinctively, I get a foot on it and direct it into the far corner. I have no idea at the moment that there could be an offside. Because I wasn’t offside – I came from behind.
“I ran out to the corner flag, and all the emotions you’ve had in that game, you just let them go. I slide on my knees and lie on my back with arms and legs to the side. My calf cramps, and it was all those emotions in the body letting go. The tremble and excitement… It was just a pure release.
“Then it’s only half to a whole minute later that I realise there could be an offside. I can see that there are many United players around the referee, and then I see on the screen that they’re checking it. It wasn’t fun to walk around there.”
Torp also revealed that he felt like the moment was taken away from him, adding: “It was a bit surreal, going from being up there to feeling like it was taken away from me. You can’t feel that when they’ve judged there’s an offside. That’s just how it is. But at that moment, I felt like it was taken away from me.
“I knew I had to take a penalty if we went to a shootout. The day before, I had asked to take it if it came to that, and I was on the field. I knew where I wanted to kick, and we had trained it the day before. I had a chat with the goalkeeper coach about what Onana typically does and which side he tends to jump more to. But it shouldn’t have needed much more, then it would have been outside the goal.
“It’s a bit difficult to cope with all the things that happened. When you’ve tried to watch the game again or highlights, there are many things you’ve forgotten that happened because you forgot some of it in the heat of the game.
“In the evening, I didn’t see my goal because it was just millimetres that determined it was offside. I had to digest that before I could see it, so I only saw it the day after. I just needed to get it out of my system.”
A lot of pundits have been talking rubbish since the game. Some suggesting it’s a ‘shame’ the goal was ruled out because of how significant it would have been. I don’t recall any pundits saying that about Alejandro Garnacho’s ‘offside’ at Arsenal earlier this season.
The point I am making is, if a player is offside it should be called offside. No ifs, buts, maybes or ‘shame’ about it.
United’s win means it will be a repeat of last year’s final as we take on Man City. We will be all hoping for a better result!
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