[lfc-news] Liverpool ready to gatecrash to glory - Telegraph

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Has someone you know been affected by illness or disease?
Network for Good is THE place to support health awareness efforts!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/0xaSZB/UOnJAA/Y3ZIAA/2_TolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->

Daily Telegraph, 25 May 2005
Liverpool ready to gatecrash to glory
By Henry Winter

Everyone in Europe seems so surprised to find Liverpool in the Champions
League final here that Sami Hyypia, Xabi Alonso and Rafael Benitez were
even refused entry to the Ataturk Stadium yesterday when they arrived on
UEFA media business. A Turkish jobsworth turned them away, saying he did
not recognise them. "They tried to chase us away when we got to the
gate," Hyypia said. "But we got through."

Inevitably. Getting through against the odds has been the story of
Liverpool's remarkable season in Europe; at every round, people have
wondered what a stuttering Premiership side are doing progressing in the
greatest club competition of them all.

Written off against Juventus before the quarter-finals, Hyypia and
company performed with real conviction and got through. Dismissed as
dreamers against Chelsea before the semi-finals, Steven Gerrard, Jamie
Carragher and their determined brethren outwitted and outfought such a
feted foe and got through.

One could just imagine the Ataturk gate-man's thoughts as he surveyed
Hyypia, Alonso and Benitez. "This is not John Terry, Frank Lampard and
the special, Mr Mourinho," he must have told himself. So he left them
standing in the rain, increasingly irritated, until a flurry of text
messages between Liverpool and UEFA brought an apologetic official
rushing over to help.

Liverpool are through to the final of the Champions League and their
fans are determined to make everyone know. The red half of Merseyside
has mobilised and swamped old Constantinople, filling the bars around
Taksim Square, bringing more noise to the raucous bazaars, singing of
the "Fields of Anfield Road" and how "Steve Gerrard, Gerrard, he hits
the ball from 40 yards". Liverpool have always been a community club, an
emotional force in countless lives, that no one wanted to miss this
occasion.

So the children of the great Liverpool family have landed in their tens
of thousands, flying into a designated airport over the Bosphorus in
Asia Minor, where You'll Never Walk Alone is pumped into the arrivals
hall. Istanbul is presently East meets West meets Bootle and Bedlam.
Fans have woken early to the muezzin's call to prayer, have danced to
samba bands, ridden rickshaws and, worryingly, bought tickets in the
Milan end of the soulless Ataturk Stadium.

Every fan walks on with hope in his heart, hoping that Generation
Gerrard can repeat the feats of past legends in red. Liverpool's
optimistic present collides with memories of their famous past here in
the world's most historically rich city. Every flight touching down in
Istanbul seems to boast a European Cup-winner on board: Alan Kennedy,
Ian Rush, Phil Thompson, David Fairclough and Mark Lawrenson, among
distinguished others.

If Liverpool are to lift their fifth European Cup in the competition's
50th finale, the case for pace against Milan is unanswerable and may
explain why Harry Kewell and Djibril Cisse had an extra spring in their
step during training last night. Benitez has done his homework on Milan,
and noted their defenders' vulnerability to speed. A coach hitherto
noted for his caution is considering pulling a fast one on Milan.

The self-styled "loner with a lap-top" has viewed, and re-viewed tapes
of Milan's struggles against PSV Eindhoven in the semi-finals, saw how
the South Korean left-back Lee Young-Pyo kept flying at and past Cafu,
how Park Ji-Sung raced from deep to alarm Jaap Stam and Alessandro
Nesta. Out on Milan's left, Jefferson Farfan so troubled the vaunted
Paolo Maldini that the Italian was removed at the break.

Where the English espy ageing legs in Milan's rearguard, the Italians
see only experience. Cafu (34), Stam (32), Nesta (29), Maldini (36) is
not a back-four: it's a defensive wall of fame. If they gathered all
their trophies, all the World Cups and European Cups and championships,
into one collection, this Milanese quartet could fill the Duomo.

Benitez smiled when mention was made of Milan's know-how. "Milan have
more players than us who have played in more finals, but we are really
hungry," the Spaniard said. "We know we can balance their experience
with our hunger."

Hunger and Kewell are rarely words uttered in the same breath, yet the
moody Australian could be presented with a chance to prove himself to
sceptical Liverpool fans. If Kewell starts in the hole behind Cisse, and
Dietmar Hamann is left on the bench, it will surely hasten the German's
departure, possibly to Bolton Wanderers. A vote for Cisse may encourage
Milan Baros to leave as well.

Nothing is predictable here. Diego Maradona even turned up to watch
Liverpool training last night, before preparing to join Mario Kempes in
regaling ESPN's Latin audience. "You have got to say Milan are the
favourites but you cannot discount Liverpool because they have a hungry
look about them," Maradona said. "I hope Milan come out on top because
Crespo is an Argentinian like me. He is coming back on international
duty and I want to see him returning as a European champion. It will
mean he is even more motivated. When you look at Milan, you have to say
they have the edge."

Maradona, and the Milan spy who was so relaxed he kept his club blazer
on, studied Liverpool's drills intently, though both looked bemused when
Benitez had his players engaging in a game of netball. Liverpool's
energetic, laughter-filled session differed from the Milan practice
which became noisy only when Carlo Ancelotti's players formed a circle
and applauded Maldini, who will be playing in an astonishing seventh final.

This is a meeting between Milan and Liverpool brimming with contrasts,
La Scala versus Hollyoaks, Maldini versus Carragher, between
representatives of the parsimonious Serie A who leak goals and the
unyielding team from the defensively-flawed Premiership. Liverpool have
not conceded a Champions League goal in almost 3½ hours. Milan yielded
one in the dying seconds of their last tie, against PSV Eindhoven.

Yet they share the stress of a grand occasion being watched by the
world. Pressure will cling to both buses as they weave their way towards
this bleak ground over roads so new workmen were hammering in the
cats'-eyes yesterday. The rising tension was inescapable.

Beads of sweat moistened Benitez's brow as he talked. His centre-half,
Hyypia, knows this hour and a half of sporting exertion will define his
reputation. Hyypia sat next to the trophy that Claude Makelele calls the
"cup with the big ears" and gazed at it, awe-struck. "It will be my only
chance to win it," Hyypia said. "I won't let the chance go easily. When
we win, all of the players will be in the history books."

Liverpool means everything to this Finn, who was raised on the televised
deeds of Kenny Dalglish, Bruce Grobbelaar's spaghetti legs and epic
Kennedy strikes. "Everyone remembers the good days of Liverpool
dominating in Europe," Hyypia added. "So we want to bring the cup home
again. We want to write our page of history." Gerrard agreed, stating:
"We have a chance to become legends."

England expects. So does Italy. Ancelotti spent much of yesterday's
grilling fiddling with his wedding-ring. Silvio Berlusconi, the Prime
Minister of Italy and former president of Milan, had just visited
Ancelotti and his players. "He told us we should perform well, be
tenacious, show the will to fight and win to live up to the reputation
of our club," Ancelotti recounted.

So Milan will break forward towards the on-loan Hernan Crespo as well as
Andrei Shevchenko, with the Italians keen "to keep Crespo, who is
willing to stay". A decision will be made after the final, though Milan
are not keen to pay the £8 million Chelsea seek. Peter Kenyon, Chelsea's
ubiquitous chief executive, has jetted in.

Hyypia's evening will be more comfortable if Gerrard and Alonso can
disrupt Milan's supply lines. Andrea Pirlo and Kaka can spirit the ball
upfield through long pass or strong dash. Gerrard's energy will be much
required. "Gerrard is one of the strongest midfielders in the world; he
has a dynamic personality," Ancelotti said. If Gerrard is at his dynamic
best, Liverpool have a real chance.

Unsubscribe: lfc-news-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
http://www.lfc-list.org.uk/

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lfc-news/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
lfc-news-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/