A night to remember...

Almost everyone who knows me will also know that I am a die hard Liverpool fan. I might have mellowed down in my support over the past couple of years but make no mistake, in the vicinity of a Man Utd or a Chelsea supporter, the Red in me comes to the fore. Apart from being the only team I have supprted ever since I started following (thanks to Michael Owen and his wonder goal against Argentina in '98 WC), they are also the team that have given me one of the truly inspirational nights in my life. In fact, that night in Istanbul is the night I go back to whenever I need to lift myself up. The night when everything conspired for Liverpool and against Milan. The night when the second goal was a a result of a blatant offside not given minutes before the goal. The goal itself being scored by the outgoing Vladimir Smicer who would never play a game again for Liverpool (I suppose!). The night when the penalty awarded to Gerrard seemed dubious (I accept that he went to ground too easily!!), when Xabi missed the penalty at the first time of asking and when it fell kindly to him to tap it back in. Maybe the biggest of all signs- Sheva (of the rotting on the bench in Chelsea fame!!) who was, at the time, the best striker in the world, missed a tap in from 2 yards out. Finally it went to penalty shootout and who else but Sheva to miss the penalty and hand the big ears to Liverpool. From being 3-0 down and looking down and out, Steven Gerrard's team went on to win its 5th European Cup/Champion's League crown.

Many might be aware of all this. Many might agree or disagree with me on the observations and many might think- Why this now? Reason is that today, I watched that video again and was amazed at how it perks me up every single time I watch it. How it makes me believe in miracles. How it tells me that sometimes, your destiny precedes your actions. No matter what you do, you will get what's coming to you. I don't usually believe in luck but I do turn into a believer for sometime.

Whenever I feel the odds are against me or that I have been written off, I stop for a while and think of that night in Istanbul. A night to remember...

PS: If Djimi Traore can have a UCL winner's medal, anything is possible ;-)