Liverpool FC Forum

[mgabby]

For the fifth Istanbul birthday, here are my top 10 of that day :

1. Half time. I am sitting on the upper deck, just above the left corner flag. I am almost in tears.
We are down 0-3 and every few seconds I am getting another SMS from my friends. "was it worth the trip?"
is the most common one.

2. The Milan fans sitting behind the left goal on my left are singing. My frand that speaks Italian tells me they are singing "Liverpool go home"... Sudenly, just a minute or two before the end of half-time the stadium is strting
to sing YNWA. It was amazing! No doubt the players heard it in the dressing rooms. Even the Italians are singing with us.

3. Alonso ties it! it's 3-3 and we are all singing to the Milan fans "your not singing anymore!!!" It was hilerious!

4. 119th minute. Shevchenko misses the goal or just hits Dudek from 1 meter. My heart falls to mw shoes.

5. First penelty. Forgot the name of the Brazilian Milan player... The stadium is soooo loud. He misses the goal.
It is clear that we will go home with the cup.

6. Shevchenko misses the last penalty. The place goes wild! After Queen's "we are the chempions"
I remember Tina Turner's "You're simply the best". Don't remember too many things beyond that :-)

7. It take the busses some 3 hours to reach Istanbul city. At one point I just asked the driver to
open the door and started walking. Could'nt breath in the crowded bus...

8. I reached Taksim Square about half an hour before my other 3 friends that stayed on the bus.
Liverpool fans block the streets, and every car has to drive in the middle of a sea of red flags.
AMAZING!!!

9. Nothing to eat in the city at 3 a.m. So we eat Kabab in Donner from a street stand. Oh, and we
drank about 5-6 Carsbergs each.

10. Next day. Wednsday morning at Ata Turk Airport. We are waiting for the flight back to Tel Aviv, Israel.
Suddenly, Liverpool team enters the airport. All the players are there. Hyypia is holding the cup.
All players are with the gold meddals on them. We form two rows and all the players are walking between us
to the glassed VIP room.
15 minutes later the Milan players enter. No smiles there :-)

Have about 600 pictures from Istanbul and about 15 videos. If anyone is interested, I can post some here...

Happy Birthday Istanbul !!!

[J*o*n*D*o*e]

i doubt ill ever go through anything like it again, looking back the whole campaign that season was full of great games, great memories and great goals, what an amazing night.

people talk about Maradona`s goal against England and call it the hand of God, the real hand of God was the second save by Dudek, if you ever get to see the picture of it from directly infront then you will see Dudek has is eyes closed, im not a believer but something was with us that night.

[Sir Roger]

We were magnificent in the run up to the final with attacking, creative, daring football
Where did it all go wrong...?

[babu]

I gave myself a black eye, seriously, when the second goal went it. I jumped up in the air, spastically doing air punches and got myself in the eye.

Watched the third go in with one eye shut.

best night ever!

[7_Kewell]

i was still at uni and watched it in the local sports pub with my reds shirt on.. Got totally smashed after we won and ended up in the student union asking girls to kiss the liverpool badge on my shirt 

was a funny night 

[KennyisGod....still]

I remember switchin on for the build up, watchin at home cuz some of the pubs here aint the best as a fan of teams outside the big(?) midlands clubs!! I knew once Pirlo had the free kick we were in trouble, sufferred at his hands (or more accurately feet!!) as a Scotland fan. I remember beratin Kewell for wantin out of the biggest game of his life, not instantly realisin what was gonna happen with Didi on the pitch. To see us 3 down at HT was torture, but to hear my wife say "not doin very well are they" was the straw that broke the camels back. Hit her with a ferocious verbal assualt that in honesty I've still not apologised for to this day.

Second half started after seein THAT rendition of YNWA from a set of fans that- just like me - refused to believe it was over. First goal from SG hits the net and seconds later a rather p1$$ed off wife hammers down the stairs to remind me the kids are in bed. Coupla mins later same thing!! I have absolutely no shame in sayin as Alonso buried that rebound I was almost cryin!! (By this time she'd given up remindin me bout the rugrats, but hadn't forgotten the verbals from HT. Bigger than I'll ever be she did at least acknowledge her mistake in writin us off.) Most of the rest is a blur.... drink and pure adrenalin gettin me past the ET and into the pens. Vaguely remember Carra gettin cramp an me shoutin at him "ffs Carra, you can do this!!" as he threw that body at the ball again. I never saw Dudek's second part of the double save, convinced it was in my eyes were shut.

When Schevchenko missed his pen (more accurately as the commentary says - "Dudek saaaaaaaaaves!!") it was just such a release. I feel for the guys in the stadium, lord knows the emotions I'd have gone thru havin been there. I'v been at Anfield for rollercoaster games, watched Scotland perform outta their skins only to be shot down.... to have been there in the greatest comeback in European Final history musta been both amazin and drainin. A night I'll never forget, along with many others this clubs given me, and one my kids have been forced to sit and watch fairly regularly in my attempts at brain washin them into the institution that is LFC.

I have faith. I have belief and dont really care that some call it misguided/blinkered/blind, its mine. And just like those many memories, theres no-one big enough, not even the yanx, to take that away. It was a Happy Birthday for Istanbul, but also one night in an exaggerated million for a Liverpool fan - long may it live on. YNWA

[mgabby]

Taksim square... after the game...

(by the way, how do I upload bigger pictures? I have a 20K limit...)

[mgabby]

Istanbul's Kop

[mgabby]

This one is during the penalty shootout...

[mgabby]

Rafa and Stee G with big ears :-)

[mgabby]

Oh and just a view of the Hagia Sofia...

[mgabby]

Sorry... previous one is the Blue Mosque.
This is Hagia Sofia.

[zarababe]

The greatest of all finals.. never forget and never stop believing - impossible is nothing !

[zarababe]

check-out RAfA Dancin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVwi5IcQWZo

[Emerald Red]

We were magnificent in the run up to the final with attacking, creative, daring football
Where did it all go wrong...?

Wrong? I think we won it.



Best ever final in not just the history of the competition, but the history of the sport itself, and in most cases, almost every other sport I can think of for that matter. Nothing will top it.