Cristiano Ronaldo feared his penalty miss in Wednesday's Champions League final shootout would be the worst moment of his life before keeper Edwin van der Sar earned Manchester United a dramatic win over Chelsea.

"I don't know what to say, I thought we would lose when I missed," Ronaldo, who had his kick saved by Petr Cech, told ITV after United won 6-5 on penalties following a thrilling match that ended 1-1 after extra time.

"I thought it would be the worst day of my life, but the lads believed and we won it even despite my miss. I'm very proud of them. The penalties are a lottery. I think we deserved it because we played better in the whole game.

"Now it's the happiest day of my life," added the Portuguese winger before saying he was going to stay at United.

United manager Alex Ferguson revealed it was the first penalty shootout he had won.

"It's the first in a big game," said Ferguson, who adds a second Champions League crown to the 10th Premier League title United clinched last week.

"I think there was a sense of fate. We were fantastic in the first half and should have been three up. The second half they were the better team but we recovered in extra time."

Chelsea skipper John Terry had the chance to win it for his team but he hit the post with his side's fifth penalty after appearing to slip in the wet conditions.

"I thought JT would score his penalty," said United defender Rio Ferdinand. "He's a great penalty taker in training, unfortunately he slipped. I guess somebody's got to lose."

Ryan Giggs, who played in United's 1999 triumph over Bayern Munich, savoured another piece of silverware.

"I can enjoy this one a bit more, in 1999 you thought it would come around again," he said. "We deserved it. In the first half we dominated. In the second they had their chances but we held on."

Reuters