Cole catches fire at Chelsea

By Trevor Haylett

For a long time, Joe Cole has been a player with all the skill in the world but no regular role in which to show it off. At Chelsea FC he has been used down the right, out on the left, in the middle, off the front man. He never lacks confidence in himself but must wish that his managers displayed more in him.

Outstanding performance
It is not just with his club that Cole has lacked a definite position on the field - with England too he has been asked to take on a variety of tactical disciplines and has most often been used as a substitute who can turn a game from the bench. Yet he is clearly one of the brightest talents in the English game and will be hoping that his outstanding performance in Chelsea's UEFA Champions League victory against FC Barcelona has pushed him nearer a regular place for his country.

Remorseless display
It was a remorseless display from José Mourinho's side to overturn Barcelona's lead from the first leg and win through 5-4 on aggregate. It had to be. Barça have too much class and desire to drift out of Europe's greatest club competition without a colossal fight. And among all the heroes in blue none made more impression than the 23-year-old from north London.

Decisive role
Cole was largely responsible for Chelsea's second goal, finished off by Frank Lampard after Cole had skipped around Giovanni van Bronckhorst and fired in a shot that took a deflection and drew only a half-save from Víctor Valdés. For the third goal it was his finely driven pass into the yawning gap at the heart of the Barça defence which enticed Damien Duff to stride on and score in style.

Dominant vein
Those two snapshots inside the first 19 minutes showed just what he is capable of. He stayed in that dominant vein all night long, forcing Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard to pull off Van Bronckhurst, his immediate opponent, at half-time in favour of Sylvinho.

Eriksson impressed
Afterwards the England coach Sven Göran-Eriksson said it was the best he had seen Cole play but the object of so much praise preferred to share the plaudits with the rest of the team. However, goalkeeper Petr Cech was still in awe. "Ronaldinho and Joe were the real stars of the game," he told uefa.com. "He has shown that he can use his skills at the highest level."

Memorable match
It was a game that will live long in the memory and Cole enjoyed the experience as much as anyone. "Of course you can enjoy it, I enjoy all my football," he said. "It's what I live for, to go out there and play in the big games. I love it before the game, during the game and again afterwards."

Mammoth task
It was a job well done but it will have to be repeated again and again if Chelsea are to celebrate their centenary year by lifting this great prize for the first time. "In this competition you are up against the best players in the world and to win it we have to beat another three sides who are as good as Barcelona," said Cole.

Happy circumstances
"Since [defeating Liverpool FC in the League Cup final late last month] we have gone on to another level," he added. "We are all growing as a team and as individuals so we are happy."