One night in Europe...From Anfield with Love

The Sky at Night - Perfect Evening at Anfield

Last night, was truly special for this birdie. After travelling north from my midlands abode to see many a 
Liverpool match, I finally saw my very first European game at Anfield. And wasn't it just marvellous? Coming to watch us play Sparta Praha (Prague) in the second leg of our Europa League campaign I sat in the Kop end, only the 9th row back which was mind frazzlingly close to the grass itself (so close i could smell the manly mustiness of Reina's sweaty body), and among some completely fantastic but insane fans. Just the way I like it! I just knew I would be in for one of the craziest nights at Anfield I could possibly witness, and to think it only gets better when it's a Champions League night....

Justice For The 96 - Always in our Hearts

The weather had been just fantastic all day and as I sat down, the sky turned a beautiful mix of blue, purple and pink over the stadium. The fans, the floodlights, the Liverpool badge above the stands of Anfield, the scores of children coming to see their favourite team play whilst on half term, the players we admire warming up, the banner that reminded us never to forget the 96, and most of all, hearing the sound of thousands of fans singing 'Anfield Road', I couldn't help but get goosebumps while i sung along, watching the famous flags unravel in front of me, ready to wave. I must have remembered I'm a woman in there somewhere, because, as ever, my eyes welled up.

Perfect view - How could i not photograph this moment?

After I had stemmed the flow of tears with yet another kleenex, I duly reapplied some mascara, not just because i looked like my neighbour had given me a black eye for being such a typical woman, but so my lashes were at the ready to flutter at number 25, and after convincing a cute little scouse boy behind me to shout his name while they warmed up, I did indeed flutter and almost pass out as my Spanish heart throb turned and seemingly looked right at me (I think it was a generic look into the crowd but i felt the connection with my eyes; he wanted me).

Repka's Posse - Sparta Praha fans

Once the stadium filled slowly, I couldn't help but notice how many away fans were actually there. Granted it was hard to see from the opposite end but I have that eagle vision which reads hallmarks on jewellery without a magnifying glass, so I could see that nearly every seat was occupied by a fan. Every game I have attended, even the opener of the season against Arsenal, I haven't seen that many away fans before. But as one of my Kop neighbours explained 'it's the beauty of European games, you get to see the real passionate fans of the opposing team come all the way here to support their men, and hopefully go home crying'. Heartwarming. And those Spartans were passionate indeed! They tried to compete with the Kops singing, but in the end we out sung them, although they kept as much faith all the way through the game.
 

As the match kicked off, and Reina was in goal at the Kop end, I started to think about what the outcome should be to this game, and not just the obvious such as Repka's head meeting a goalpost and splitting open or Reina celebrating a first half goal by ripping his shirt off because he was standing twiddling his thumbs so close by (seriously he had nothing to do as all the action was at the other end, just how we like it). So because I was sitting right by the right hand corner flag,

Perfect Corner = Goal!

I hoped that all the corners would be taken by Meireles and that all the goals we scored would be in the second half, so they could be scored right in front of me. 


When i first mentioned the idea to my neighbour he thought i needed psychiatric help for not wanting Liverpool to score in the first half...

...But talk about a dream come true! 

After a dismal first half which saw Ngog in some absolutely sexually perfect positions but still not managing to score, there came, in the second half, the first and only corner for Liverpool, rightfully taken by Meireles, who once again, was a mere 3 metres away from me as he took it from my neighbourly flag, and as the crowd chanted his name, a swift kick into the penalty area saw Kuyt heading the ball into the back of the net, right in front of us goal crazy Kopites!


And whats more, I caught it all on camera, although the actual ball-in-net moment is lost amidst the crazy jumping. Not that I cared in the slightest about that; I saw Reina's eyes meet mine before kick off, Meireles take the corner right by me, Kuyt score in front of me and we won the game, so for me all was not lost. King Kenny made it happen for us, his presence in Anfield only elevated that thrill of a win. And as my neighbour said to me once upon a time before kick off, the visitors indeed went home crying.