‘The Simple thngs in Life’

‘The Simple Things in Life’ By Mark J Stevens©

Every now and then something happens in our lives that make’s us
feel very unique within ourselves, in my case this was watching
a football match. This was a very important game for me to watch
as it was the team that I have supported for so long! In fact
all my life I have been a Liverpool FC supporter, I have seen
some great times and not so great times especially in the last
few years. Yes! We won three trophies in one particular season
and that was great but even then there was still something
missing. With the history of this great football club Liverpool
FC has the best record when it comes to winning the English
League. They have won the European Cup more times than any other
British Football team and on this day May 25th 2005 they found
themselves with another golden opportunity of clinching this
wonderful Cup with the big ears, now called the Champions League
trophy. So there I was anticipating this match which had the
elements of being a classic football spectacular. In one corner
you had the mighty team from Italy, AC MILAN. With a star
studied team of great soccer professionals from Paolo Maldini,
Andriy Shevchenko and the talented new Brazilian play maker
Kaka. In the other corner you had my team Liverpool, who somehow
with an awful Premiership league campaign behind them where they
could only finish fifth behind their city rivals Everton and
miss out on an Automatic Champions League place for the
following season but Inspired by two scousers, club captain
Steven Gerrard and the irrepressible Jamie Carragher through out
the season, found themselves in the most lucrative football
match in world football. It was a dream not only for the players
but for all the Liverpool fans all around the world to see this
great football club back where it belonged, at the top of the
ladder in world football. So on this night two great teams
steeped in history battled for a place in history. Going back to
my day I rang a very good friend of mine and asked her if she
wanted to watch the game with me at a local bar…she said, yes!
It was to be her first time watching a game like this and she
was very excited by it all because everyone was talking about
it…so we met up the and walked down to the bar. As we entered we
could see that the place was streaming with Liverpool fans but
you did have the odd Milan fan or two hiding and keeping a low
profile in the corner of the bar. So we found a nice spot to get
a good view of the game and ordered some beers. You could feel
the Anticipation of it all by the look of the Liverpool fans in
the bar, some where very cheerful! Others looked just happy to
be there. I was calm from the outside but on the inside I was a
mess. The big screens on the walls which seemed bigger than they
actually were had everyone’s attention, even some of the bar
staff would have a little peak at the screens, the place was
buzzing. My friend took out her cigarettes and lit up one, she
was lucky to have that comfort, all I wanted at that moment was
my beer to arrive and the game to start. Then as we watched the
Players came out, there was a loud cheer from the bar crowd and
one set of lads starting to sing ‘You’ll never walk alone’. I
started to feel a little better and starting to sing along with
them but only in my head. Then the game started and all I was
thinking was that we must try to put as much pressure on the
Milan players from the get go. Then we gave away an early
free-kick but at that moment our beers arrived and the girl who
brought it to us took my attention for a second or two and in
that moment Milan had scored a goal…There was a hush of silence
now from the bar and as I looked around I could see people in
total shock at what had just happened. Me I was thinking that
stupid left back of ours Djimi Traore is an awful player and not
fit to wear the Liverpool shirt. My friend tried to give me some
moral support by smiling and saying, don’t worry I still think
Liverpool will win…I just looked sternly towards the screen with
distain. The game was all Milan’s; they were winning all the
tackles, getting free-kicks in dangerous places. The Liverpool
players look tired, unsure and beaten almost, it was not a
pretty sight; they were chasing shadows it seemed. I just kept
looking around the bar trying to ignore just what was happening
and then it got worst. What looked like a penalty to Liverpool
was denied and within seconds Milan broke away and scored. Then
just before the half time break Milan broke away once more and
scored a third, by now everyone in the bar was silent and
stunned but the odd Milan fans I mentioned earlier were singing
away happily in the corner. I was gutted! I look at my friend
and said, lets go… She looked at me and said, Ok! And as we
walked out I looked back and glanced at my fellow supporters and
hoped that Liverpool would not be embarrassed and come out in
the second half and show some heart. As we walked home to my
house I told my friend that I would cook for her and that we
could watch the rest of the game at my place. We arrived at my
home just as the second half was about to start, I turned on the
TV and then took out a bottle of red wine, opened it and poured
two large glasses and gave one to my friend. She sat down and
suddenly said, you know what Mark, ‘It’s never over until the
fat lady sings’. I think Liverpool can still make a come back
and win she added. I just looked at her again thinking this girl
knows nothing about football because if she did she would know
that Milan would never give away three goals to a team that they
have just outplayed for 45 minutes and with their defensive
nature it would be totally impossible for Liverpool to make a
comeback. So I smiled at her and told her to drink her wine
while I prepared the dinner. As I was cutting vegetables in my
kitchen, I could hear her shouting at the TV, which was strange
because she did not do this in the Bar. So I took a little peak
for myself and noticed that Liverpool had made some changes, The
German midfielder Dietmar Hamann was now on the pitch and this
gave me some hope that Liverpool could keep the score decent at
least. But what it also did as well was make Steven Gerrard free
to roam and move forward. Then there was another scream from my
living room, my friend was jumping around I came in quietly and
Liverpool had scored. It was Steven Gerrard, the change in
tactic had worked, Liverpool seemed more up for this game now
and the players looked different somehow but Milan remained
confident then two minutes later the game turned on its head,
the ball was played to Vladimir Smicer and he drilled the ball
home from 20 yards and Liverpool where back in the game, I came
running into the room screaming with joy at what had just
happen. The air was electric once more, I could not leave the
living room and all of a sudden the game changed again. The
Milan players looked shell shocked because within a few minutes
Liverpool was on level terms. Gerrard dashed into the Milan’s
penalty box and was fouled. It was a certain penalty, at this
point I was on my knees yelling at the ceiling. I am sure my
neighbours could hear everything. Even my friend was jumping for
joy shouting, I told you, I told you!!! She was right! She
proved one thing to me and that was all the Soccer Pundits and I
knew nothing about Football! Could they do it, could they
actually win this match? No team had ever come back from three
goals down to win a Champions League Final. I had to stop
cooking at that point and told her that dinner will just have to
wait and so we drank more wine and watched the rest of the match
with our hearts in our mouths. It seemed that both of us had
turns in screaming at the TV and this would continue right up
until that now famous Jerzy Dudek ‘Hand of God’ save which
denied Shevchenko the winner for Milan in the dying seconds of
extra time. We were both quiet and I had my head in my hands at
that moment…The referee blew for full time and the game was
over. At that point I had to get up and walk around the house,
nervous like hell! I walked back into the living room, listening
to the commentator remarking about how Liverpool had won on a
penalty shoot out against Roma in 1984 and our goalkeeper at the
time Bruce Grobballar saved two penalties by putting off the
Roma players as much as he could and now it had almost seemed
like deja vous. Who would be the villain and who would be the
hero, it was now a lottery! I needed more wine so I opened up
another bottle, my friend could not drink no more she was just
adamant that Liverpool would win. She remarked, look at the
Milan Players they don’t look happy! I had a look and noticed
the same thing!They seem beaten before the first spot kick. She
was right, our goalkeeper did everything he could to put off
Milan’s first spot kick taker Serginho and it worked! He missed,
blazing the ball high over the bar. It was our turn next and I
was not worried because it was our Germany International Dietmar
Hamann and as predicted he scored. I was calm but still nervous,
it was their turn once more, surely they would score but once
again Jerzy Dudek’s antics on the goal line did the job and he
saved very easily. We would be now 2-0 up if French
International Striker Djibril Cisse would score and after
suffering a broken Leg and missing most of the season he shows
his class and calmly placed the ball to the right of Milan’s
Goalkeeper Dida’s goal giving him no chance. It was in our hands
now, just two more spots kicks and we would be Champions of
Europe. Kaka would score from his spot kick…then our hearts
were in our mouths when our left mid-fielder John Arne Riise
missed his spot kick, it was now 2-1 but still in our favour and
before we knew it, Danish international Jon Dahl Tomasson made
it 2-2. So up stepped the Czech Striker Vladimir Smicer, playing
probably his last game for Liverpool FC and his best game ever
in my mind for the team, he calmly slotted the ball past the
goalkeeper to make it 3-2 to us…My friend and I was so tense,
the room was silent apart from the TV. Then Milan’s leading goal
scorer stepped up to the plate, Andriy Shevchenko, the man who
was denied the winner before the end of extra time. As he
approached Dudek threw him the ball, he look anxious and nervous
and did not look confident. Somehow I knew he would miss and he
did…For a split second my heart had stopped and I sanked to my
knees and just started to scream with ecstasy, my dream had come
true, the Players dreams were for filled! My football team had
won. Life could not be any better…I was emotionally drained by
it all and was sure all the people in the stadium, the viewers
and all the millions of people around the world were too. My
friend and I were just hugging each other and kissing. I kept
saying, that its time to get drunk and forgetting that I was
suppose to be cooking dinner for the both of us! So we continued
to watch the rest of the coverage on the box and as Steven
Gerrard lifted the trophy and the commentator shouted out
‘Liverpool Are Kings of Europe’ a tear came to my eyes. In that
moment I was in wonderland just like those players. As far as I
was concerned they were Legends now no matter what they did for
the rest of their lives, from this moment on they would always
remember and treasure. I started to also think about all those
who had lost their lives going to see Liverpool play, all the
disasters that had occurred during football matches. My heart
went out to them…its moments like this that makes it possible to
see just why football is so important to the man and woman on
the street. We relate to it in so many ways. We support our
teams because we choose to and win, lose or draw all the
emotions that this sport and all the other sports may muster are
worth it for moments like these. So when it was all over and as
I tried to figure out what had just happened, one thing dawned
on me and that was it’s the Simple things in Life that I cherish
the most and watching my team play is one of them.

2005-06-04