Manchester United captain Rio Ferdinand has praised Chelsea skipper John Terry despite his penalty miss in the Champions League final.

The United captain admitted he was surprised when the Blues defender slipped on his spot kick and he admitted he thought their chance had gone.

"I was thinking he's going to score," Ferdinand said. "He's a great penalty taker normally but he slipped. Unfortunately someone's got to lose and in this game it was them."

United won the match 6-5 on penalties following the miss after Ryan Giggs scored his penalty but substitue Nicolas Anelka failed to convert his spot kick.

Cristiano Ronaldo had earlier put United in front before Frank Lampard equalised.

Ferdinand also paid tribute to Giggs, who broke Sir Bobby Charlton's all-time appearance record with his 759th outing in a United shirt.

He said: "He is phenomenal. The thing is he has come on as a substitute and made an impact. He could have scored but John Terry cleared his shot off the line.

"He is not thought of as highly as he should be in my opinion. When he has retired, people will appreciate him much more."

Sir Alex Ferguson revelled in the delight of winning the Champions League for the second time in dramatic fashion and said he was delighted his team had finally won a penalty shoot-out.

He said: "We're delighted. It's my first victory in a penalty shoot-out apart from the Charity Shield. I've lost three with Aberdeen and three with United so this is seventh-time lucky.

"The slip by Terry gave us an opening and I thought we would win it then.

"We were fantastic in the first half but the goal gave them an impetus and they were the better team in the second half. But in extra-time, I think we were the better team. It was tight and there were some fantastic moments."

Meanwhile, Avram Grant insisted his side were unfortunate.

He said: "It is very hard to lose on penalties. The first 30 minutes we dominated the game. We hit the post and the bar and even in the penalties we came to the last penalty and slipped. But we lost.

"Terry was very sad and he cried, but he is the main reason we are here. He was there whenever we needed him and he took the responsibility today with the last penalty. He was fantastic."

Grant refused to speculate about his own future but insisted he was proud of his first season in charge at Stamford Bridge.

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