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Every time I look in the mirror I see a scar over my left eye that makes me smile. It was the consequence of one of my best days, a reminder of the enormity of an occasion.
Nemanja Vidic gifted it to me at Anfield in February 2006, during a fifth round FA Cup tie between Liverpool and Manchester United.
He missed the ball and headed me, just before half-time, and I needed a lot of treatment.
Thank goodness he never approached me in the 18th minute.
That was the moment I came to fully appreciate the power of this particular match when I scored a goal that fans, to this day, want to tell me about.
There is no more important match than Liverpool versus Manchester United. I saw Jurgen Klopp say last week that he would watch these teams play against each other anywhere in the world and that gives you an idea of what it’s like to be involved.
It’s a shame Old Trafford is empty on Sunday because this tie is everything. I know this because I have never played in an atmosphere as fierce as 15 years ago; I saw my goal again a few days ago on the BBC and the noise that followed still gives me goosebumps.
To explain why that match was so special, you need the background. In January 2006, we played United at Old Trafford.
We controlled the game and had done enough to win but, in injury time, Rio Ferdinand devastated us when he scored the only goal.
Losing like that was disgusting, but what made it even harder to bear was Gary Neville’s celebration, as he ran across the field to jump in front of our fans.
They had replaced me late and from where I was on the bench, it seemed that he was coming to celebrate in front of me.
That was the third time in four games that Rafa Benítez lost to United. When we faced them in the FA Cup, having won at Portsmouth, some groans welcomed the prospect of another encounter with them.
But, quickly, the mood changed to: let’s do it.
As much as I hated Neville rubbing our faces with it, he gave me an education on what this rivalry meant.
Growing up in London, I hadn’t appreciated the depth of feeling involved, but it removed any doubt.
We had gotten a decent pace when our paths crossed again. We had beaten Arsenal 1-0 in the league four days earlier with a late goal from Luis García and I remember the confidence that Rafa took in me when he selected me, since it had been nine games since he had scored.
What an occasion to return! The noise that hit us as we climbed the stairs of that old tunnel was crazy; it was hatred, passion, desire.
I’d say there was fear in both groups of fans as well, as the prospect of being eliminated from the Cup was too much to contemplate.
Everything was reflected in the team’s selections: Rafa was as strong as he could be, as was Sir Alex Ferguson, who lined up Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Ruud van Nistelrooy. When you consider it, you can see why no one gave us many opportunities.
However, reputation doesn’t matter when you face United. We got off to a good start and got the right reward: Steve Finnan threw a cross, Vidic got confused and blocked Harry Kewell, and I got enough power on the ball to make sure Edwin van der Sar could only push him off the post.
The feeling was like nothing else. United supporters had the entire Anfield Road End behind Van der Sar so I ran to the Centenary Stand. Finnan, Stevie Gerrard, John Arne Riise and Momo Sissoko pounced on me, as did an overexcited fan who jumped over billboards to join us.
We had to fight to keep our lead, but we had four proper running backs, Finnan and Riise on either side of Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia, and we thwarted their lives.
I got out late and at that point we knew we had it in the bag.
What really made her realize this wasn’t a normal game was a moment with Abbey’s father, Geoff, in the players lounge afterward. He had seen Liverpool win everything there was to win, so he was always quite reserved, but not this time.
Do you know what you have done there? he said. You have eliminated the Mancs from the Cup!
Then it was pointed out to me that Liverpool had failed to do that for 85 years. It was a great moment on many levels.
With United out of the way, we envisioned ourselves to go all the way and it turned out, as we finally beat West Ham in the final. Happy times.
When I did the fourth round draw 12 days ago, my phone was lit up by friends who were distraught that United and Liverpool had paired up again as no one wants to watch a game like this so early in the competition.
However, starting on Sunday, I can assure you that everyone will feel like we did 15 years ago – we’re going to have it.
A full stadium or an empty stadium, it doesn’t matter: this is the game that creates legends.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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