One by one the heroes of the hour and those who carry the club deep in their hearts from Wembley and back in a world that will never be the same for them again.
The power of the FA Cup. Don't doubt it. It exists and it remains.
Ebereechi Eze – the score of a winning goal that illuminated a fire under this fantastic final – left the building with the competition ball and a smile as wide as the Wembley -Boog.
Joel Ward – who will leave Crystal Palace after thirteen years and more than 350 performances this summer – dangled the trophy of his index finger as if it were a carrier bag. He hadn't even played.
And then there was the keeper, the great opinion and great of talent 28-year-old who probably should have been sent away but hang out to save a penalty and guide his team to glory with a series of other rescues.
Dean Henderson got up and told us he had seen all this coming.
'Remi Matthews [Palace reserve goalkeeper] Actually said this morning to me in my room that I would get a worldie and save a penalty, “said Henderson.
“I just said,” Yes, I will do that. ” And it came out. '
This is the thing about the FA Cup. It gives to these kinds of stories, as fantastic as they sound or seem. It enables football players and changes people and football clubs.
Saturday in Wembley was another privilege. Palace supporters and those from Manchester on the other side of the stadium brought a color and liveliness to this occasion that was life-affected. The sun was shining and then the football – in terms of his intrigues and storylines and drama – is easy.
For the city, this will feel too much as one blow to the stomach after a fall-off-the-cliff season that nobody saw coming.
Their players walked out Wembley to their team bus as spirits, stunned by an opponent who simply devised something better for the second time at this final. Those who stopped talking – players such as Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva – did this in a way that looked like an unlimited, a purification of souls heavily in the regret and guilt and sorrow that is accompanied by sports failure and under performance.
In the meantime, that city bus has photos of trophies that have previously won the side. Under Pep Guardiola they demanded the lot and enthusiastically on the way.
Those who now question the style and philosophy of the great man must have short memories. Part of the comments about City's travails remains stupid.
But the truth is that City is empty -handed this season. They have not experienced this anymore since Guardiola's first season in 2016-17 and the rebuild that stands for him is now important.
On Tuesday, meanwhile, his team Bournemouth is not insured in the Premier League with qualification for next season's Champions League. That is the kind of sense that has to read twice.
However, this was a day for winners. Of course it was. While the players of his club went on their way to the frivolity of the nearby Boxpark-It did not look like it was quiet, chairman Steve Parish with his eight-year-old son by his side and Zei-Terrecht-that this victory should not only be a blow to South London and Palace, but also as a siren call for clubs of comparable status. An example has been set. Glorie is not only for the really big clubs. It is for everyone if you have the courage and the Gumption to reach for it. The FA Cup does not have to be an inconvenience. It can be an entrance gate.
“I really think we've given an example,” said Parrish.
“The teams we have eliminated will think:” That could have been us “.
“I think that completely. It's great for the FA Cup.
'Even the people of people, in the cold reflection, are likely to say that it is great for football, it's great for the FA Cup.
“I think clubs will think:” Crystal Palace has done it. We can do it “.”
“I really thought we would win. I said it all week.
'At the start of the game when we were registered, I thought we would get our chances. 'Oliver [Glasner] Had said that we might score two goals. And I trust him. '
The trust of Palace Manager Glasner came from a match that played the two teams in the Etihad in the Premier League last month. City won 5-2, but only after Palace scored the first two goals of the game.
Glasner had then made a joke that the city could no longer play against Palace, the insinuation was – only half the joke – that he now had Guardiola's song.
Something may have been there. Palace needed a number of things to go their way to triumph at Wembley and to a certain extent the dice fell to their advantage. Henderson, for example, could have been sent away before he even had his chance to have his penalty save. Then-to-go their spot-kick won the wrong man-nogal inexplicable it.
Yet this result plays a feeling that this season there has been a slight leveling in English football. Newcastle has won the Carabao Cup. Nottingham Forest has insisted on the Champions League. Teams such as Palace and Bournemouth and Brentford and Brighton are no longer approaching meetings with the elite canties with the same sense of dismissal they ever did.
Here on Saturday this was all played in Technicolor. The neutral among us wondered about the victory of Palace, but at the same time no one was really surprised by it.
Wimbledon rocked the establishment by beating Liverpool in 1988. Wigan defeated City and shot Roberto Mancini from his perch in 2013. They felt like seismic disturbances. Wigan was banned that year and has to return to the Premier League.
This didn't feel that way. Yes, this was a victory for the underdog. But it was one that everyone who has seen these teams have seen playing in recent weeks could have seen coming.
The reality will bite for Palace at a certain moment. The interest in their sympathetic and talented manager will be intense this summer. Parish says he will stay, but in the end it might not be him. On Thursday evening, Europa League football will also offer a challenge next season.
But these are the challenges that come when you shine your nose out of the crowd and the rare air that comes with performance. This is now the world of Palace.
They are no longer one of the 'other clubs' in London. They are Palace, FA Cup winners 2025. It should feel special and that is because it is still very special. Despite what some may try to tell us.
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