Portuguese striker Nani revealed his anxiety during the Champions League 2008 match between Manchester United and Chelsea in the penalty shoot-out when his teammate Cristiano Ronaldo missed his opportunity to secure a goal, the Mirror reported.
The 37-year-old was playing for Manchester United and helped his team by scoring a goal in Moscow that revealed him of pressure from his side.
The footballer — who was 21 years old then — lifted the hopes of his team to secure the trophy.
“All my nerves were before, when I went up for a header with Ashley Cole and was bleeding from a cut on my head,” Nani while speaking about the intense match said.
“When that happens, you have to go back to the field and play with all the pressure, all the nerves are on you, but you feel there’s nothing to fear anymore,” the striker said.
He added: “When I saw Cristiano [Ronaldo] miss his penalty, the first in the shoot-out, it made us feel a bit nervous, but because we had gone first, we continued to believe we could win. That was what I was thinking when I was going to take the penalty — I just need to score my penalty and then the pressure is not on me, it’s on others.”
“But it was difficult. When I looked at the goal and I saw Petr Cech, who’s so big, I was thinking ‘where am I going to put the ball?’ and he almost saved it!” Nani recalled who is currently playing in Turkey’s club Adana Demirspor.
He said he had no plans of retiring until he reached 40.
“I had a serious ACL injury last year and was very close to having surgery,” said Nani. “But I improved week by week and now I’m feeling very fit and confident to play.
