Sporting Contests to Remember: A trip down the memory lane - That night in Istanbul

I will always remember that night. It was my first sleepover or rather “night-out” as it is colloquially referred to as. My parents were in the state of Tamil Nadu in a quaint place called Tiruchirapalli as my dad was posted there. My maternal grandparents who came to look after me had gone to attend a marriage and would be back only on the next day. Pardon me for digressing a bit, but it is essential to state the frame of mind I was in before the night and how, as the night progressed, it changed me.

I had a rough year up until the night. Passed out from school and having been a high flyer at school, I came crashing down to earth in my plus one year (Class XI for the uninitiated). My confidence was at its rock bottom and I hardly had any friends. It had been a while since I met my school friends but my schedule and college did not permit me to interact with the social world. I felt as if I was living like a machine. I was longing to meet my school friends and more importantly I longed to play the beautiful game or “Jogo Bonito” with them. An opportunity knocked on our doors in the most unprecedented manner when all of us were fortuitously awarded holidays at the same point of time and we decided to hang out and celebrate our reunion.

The question that haunted us for a while was how to celebrate our reunion. Now, all of us were budding football buffs and never missed an opportunity in school to play the football game and as luck would have, it was the year 2005 in the month of May. Yes, the night I am talking about is 25 May 2005, a night every football fan would remember and in my view will be the best night football has ever seen. So we got together at my place to have a sleepover and watch the UEFA Champions League final between the English Underdogs Liverpool and the Italian Giants AC Milan. (Remember Champions League Matches in India start at 11:45pm) We bought samosas and cold drinks (we were too young to consume beer) to help us watch the game. Friends started trickling down at my place from 10:30 in the night and by 11:30pm, all of us (5 in number) had gathered.

Now, we were not much of Liverpool fans (I am a Manchester United Fan and my friends were Arsenal fans) and also knew that Milan had a better team but still rooted for Liverpool as it was an English club. Milan had Seedorf, Pirlo, Gattuso and the young but excellent Kaka as their mid-field, which supported the strike force of Shevchenko and Crespo. They had topped a group which had Barcelona and defeated Manchester United, blasted away their derby rivals Inter and beaten PSV on away goals to reach the finals. On the route to final, Milan also gave away very few goals as they had an impenetrable defense consisting of the enigmatic Maldini, Nesta, Cafu and seasoned Stam. In 2005, AC Milan was considered to be the best team playing soccer on this planet and they could scare any team away.

Compared to them, Liverpool was an underdog. Having not won the Premiership Title till then (they have not won it till now) and having nothing but the 2001 UEFA Cup victory to show, Liverpool, compared to other English sides of United, Arsenal and Chelsea were on a decline. They went through the tough route of a qualifying round to be eligible to play in the Champions League and were second behind Monaco in their group matches. Led by an enterprising Steven Gerrard, the team had hardly any world class players and in the words of Jamie Carragher, Liverpool veteran and their seasoned defender, the team of 2001 which won the UEFA Cup was better. (the team consisted of Xabi Alonso and Milan Baros but they became stars later in their careers.) But they still defeated better teams like Juventus and Chelsea on their way to finals.

Many expected the final to be dominated by Milan as they were the better side tactically and in terms of skill too. Plus Carlo Ancelotti was an experienced campaigner who understood how to handle the pressures of a Champions League final as compared to Rafael Benetiz who was yet to make a name for him in the footballing world.

As the match kicked off, we prayed that Liverpool would at least go down fighting against the mighty Milan but what happened in the first half put all our hopes in a garbage can. In less than a minute after the kick off, Maldini volleyed a Pirlo free kick. Kaka was excellent in the first half as he created numerous chances for Milan and with every chance we became assured that the English club will not win the final. Shevchenko had a goal ruled out because he was offside. Then “Despo” as I called him (Hernan Crespo) scored two goals to snuff out the little life left in the Liverpool team. As Gerrard and his team trudged off the ground, we switched the television off and thought about alternative ways to pass our time as the night was long.

One of my friends already started making jokes about the dressing down received by Liverpool and had us rolling in laughter. About half an hour later, being bored we switched on the television and saw images of Steven Gerrard being chased by his teammates. Surprised, we looked on and then saw the replay of the goal scored by him as we joined in on the celebrations. Gerrard spurred his teammates on to what will be remembered as the best night of football played by Liverpool or any other club for years to come. The first goal ensured that all the jokes stopped and we again got back to the main business of the night – watching the match and praying for Liverpool. What happened in the next six minutes is beyond imagination as Smicer drilled his goal and Alonso, despite missing the penalty, kept his cool to score off the rebound to bring Liverpool level and the stadium erupted.

The next 30 minutes saw a lot of opportunities for both the sides which they failed to capitalize on. Kaka, Shevchenko and Seedorf missed chances for Milan as the clock ticked towards 90 minutes and Liverpool, led by Carragher and Traore, defended bravely. The game seemed on an edge in extra time as neither team was decisively able to seize advantage and finish the game off. Shevchenko had the best chance which was saved by Dudek and as the whistle blowed to signal the end of the extra time, the teams walked away, dreading the worst- penalty shoot-out.

Both the teams had won their previous Champions Leagues in the shootout. Milan was the first to take the spot kick and Serginho missed whereas Hamann scored for Liverpool. Pirlo’s kick was saved by Dudek and Cisse doubled the score line for Liverpool. Tomasson scored a crucial penalty for Milan and Riise’s shot was saved by Dida, then Kaka made it 2-2 for Milan. Smicer scored for Liverpool and gave them an advantage. In our hall, we were on the edge of the sofa as Shevchenko walked to take the kick. He had scored the winning penalty in the 2003 final and in my opinion, at that time, he was the best spot kicker on this planet. As he strode to take the kick the whole stadium and million other people around the world held their breath. Shevchenko missed the penalty, giving Liverpool their fifth title which meant they could retain the trophy as they were multiple winners.

As the players and crowd erupted, so did we. The victory signified that you could never count a team not. Not even when it is trailing by 3 goals in a high pressure match. For me, the lesson was that no matter how down one was (as I was during that time), one should never stop fighting. The game lifted my sagging spirits and made me rethink what I wanted to do. In a way, Steven Gerrard and his team instilled in me the spirit which keeps me running till date and is responsible for who I am today.

When the sun rose in the east and it was time to part ways with my friends, I realized that I would never forget my first sleepover night ever.