We were robbed with 3 disallowed goals mate, need to bag this one..
I really want to win this trophy! It may be seen as a bit of a token but I feel we have a bit of unfinished business because that match was such a farce from a refereeing point of view and from a personal point of view it brings back awful flashbacks of feeling like I was at deaths door! I remember that final against Sao Paulo being played a week before Christmas and really looking forward to it all week but then I had been taken down a couple of days earlier by a nasty flu.
Unfortunately it turned into severe pneumonia on the morning of that match which stayed with me for a good few weeks. I remember the weather outside that morning - dark as hell and it never stopped raining. The power went off later that evening and I was a complete mess and disillusioned as to what time of day it was. I was coughing up this rough, rustic fluid and my throat was bleeding from the effort of it all. Add in some sleep deprivation, throwing up, only being able to drink liquids, a rapid heart rate and a lost voice. Bizarrely it took a long time for it to be diagnosed as pneumonia. It was torture and it was two weeks of non-stop hell before there was any sign of improvement.
I can genuinely, hand on heart, say one of the things that gave me a little energy was keeping myself aware of our results over that Christmas period. We'd already entered it having not conceded for a good couple of months (seriously - our defence was beastly that winter!) and I recall victories against Newcastle on Boxing Day, a derby victory over Everton a couple of days after that. West Brom then followed and then a bizarre draw against Bolton followed. I remember it so well - it's maybe the only thing that kept me fixated, following their scores and listening to Liverpool's matches on the radio while lying in bed. That's the great thing about following a club like Liverpool, they go a long way to comforting you and making life a little less miserable. I didn't have the energy to celebrate their goals or wins (even the derby victory) but it was just great to have that satisfaction of seeing Rafa and the boys doing the business.
But I'll always remember, most fondly, the absolute thrill of our 5-3 victory over Luton Town in the FA Cup Third Round. I was finally getting better by that stage and my voice was returning (though it'd be a few weeks before I could return to school!) but the sheer energy I got, particularly when Alonso scored that final goal from inside our own half, was fantastic. I still hold it close to my heart and it remains one of my favourite ever Liverpool matches.
But to return to your point... let's get this b***ard of a trophy.
« Last Edit: Sep 04, 2019 11:35:35 pm by Frankly, Mr Shankly »
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