When I chose Liverpool as my English football team, I did so based almost exclusively on my familial tie to the city. When Slick chose Tottenham a few weeks later I was almost jealous of the notorious heartbreak status for which the Spurs seem to have a monopoly. As the BPL season began with THFC dropping a last-minute heartbreaker to Sunderland, that jealousy subsided a bit. Still, the beauty of English football lies in the possibility of literally dropping out the "major league" and having to stay by your boys through it all. The greatest bragging rights as a fan lie with winning, but doing so after having suffered through a tough run.This weekend was painful for me. My Reds lost 2-1 to Barnsley from the bottom side of the Championship in the FA Cup. With our Premier League season essential devolved into a race for 4th, a Carling Cup loss to Chelsea a few weeks ago and an upcoming tie with top Italian club Inter Milan in the Champions League, the FA Cup looked like our best shot at any "silverware" this season. To be dropped is one thing, but to lose relatively early to a lowly team like Barnsley is just nauseating. These were my feelings leading up to Tuesday's match with Inter.
I was still excited as this was my first LFC game I had seen since I left the US but to be honest, I would have accepted a draw. For 85 minutes it looked like I would not be disappointed (despite Inter having lost their top defender Marco Materazzi to a red card only 30 minutes in) but out of the blue Dirk Kuyt controlled a cross and skipped home the biggest goal of his Liverpool career. This opened up play enough to allow Steven Gerrard to slide in a second at the beginning of stoppage time.
I could not have been more pleased. The Champions League is a home/away set up with the winner being the team with the highest total score over the two games, with away goals being the tie-breaker. Because of this, keeping a clean sheet at home is half the battle in advancing to the next round. This means that Liverpool must only score a single goal in Milan to all but ice a victory. Were they to hit the back of the net once, Inter would have to score 4 goals in order to win on aggregate and not let the contest be decided by the away goals tie-breaker.
In a season of disappointment, this victory and the increasingly likely advancement to the next round of European competition are just plain awesome.
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Glad to see you were able to watch the game mate-o! I followed it online and then watched the highlights on TV. I’ll definitely watch the second leg of the match ups that are still undecided though. I wonder if Liverpool always play up or down to their level of competition…regardless, that second goal by Gerrard was huge! It’s not over by any means, but as you say you’re already halfway into the next round. 1 goal in the away leg and it’s over. Inter are a great team but have historically struggled in the CL, so I’m not quite sure what to expect from them.
ReplyDeleteSpurs have a big game today…second leg of the UEFA Cup Round of 32. We’re up 2-1 after the away leg, so we should get it done. I’m really looking forward to this Sunday’s Carling Cup Final against CCCFC! Wish you could be here…we might just get ourselves a trophy after all. Considering the start to the season, I would be (as they say) “over the moon”.
By the way, I’ve been playing football at lunch on Wed/Fri with a group of people at Focus. Usually we get anywhere from 6-10 people out there. When the weather is nice and you’re back in town you’ll have to join us!
I had to laugh when Kuyt the Labrador scored. I just imagine him running around with a dog's head mask on!!!
ReplyDeleteWSD's general disrespect for Kuyt seems to have been somewhat set back. It occurs to me that Kuyt is much like Benitez' coaching philosophy - great in Europe but not a good fit for the Premiership. During the game the other night they flashed a graphic that said the Dutchman has 3 goals in 6 CL games. Not too bad! Maybe he was brought on specifically to shine Europe? Just a thought...
ReplyDeleteI'm super-psyched...I just bought me an official Spurs home jersey, complete with 125 year logo, and authentic numbering and lettering. I put #10 on the back of the shirt and got my name (Sudduth) on it too. Woo-hoo! I'll email you a pic of it when I get it.
ReplyDeleteTime to beat CCCFC.
Oops, and it also has the Premier League patch too. :)
ReplyDeleteAaron, I am jacked for this cup final!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could watch it, but I think I'll have to settle for following it online. I can see CL games live and UPL (you can work the initials out) any time I want, but no BPL. Oh, well... It gives me something to look forward to on my return.
I have never seen Kuyt actually play in a game -- I only see when he scores on Gamecast or something, which is akin to watching football on the Matrix. My visual just comes from the WSD mention, which I have noticed has diminished since Howard's departure....am I the only one that misses his cynicism at times?
ReplyDeleteBTW -- congrats on yesterday.