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"Come on Didi, you can do it!" I kept thinking. As he stepped up to take the penalty, I saw the Milan keeper Dida diving in the right direction. My heart stopped for a moment as if the anticipation was too much to bear.
"It's there! 1-0 Liverpool!" said Tyldesley. We all cheered, "YES!" in a determined voice as shouts of "COME ON LIVERPOOL!" came from Aareefah, while she watched with her hands pursed against her lips.
Pirlo stepped up for Milan as the penalties seemed to come faster and faster. It was at this point that I noticed Dudek doing what can only be described as a dancing starfish routine on the goal line.
"What on Earth is he doing?" I asked Ikraam in a soft voice.
"I dunno," said Ikraam, who was too nervous to speak. I saw Pirlo side foot it to his left as Dudek dived in the same direction.
"He's saved it!" cried Tyldesley. We cried, "YES!" with an extra note of determinism.
Cisse was next up for us. He had been injured for most of the season and I couldn't help thinking if this would affect him. Thankfully it didn't as he stroked the ball into the right-hand bottom corner, putting us 2-0 up. The penalties seemed to come thick and fast now. Tommason next up for Milan, who scored.
Riise was next up for us. Of all the Liverpool players, I was sure he would have scored but I was forgetting one little thing, it was a penalty shoot-out and nothing ever goes to plan. So true to form, Riise had his penalty saved and all of a sudden it was game on for what seemed like the hundredth time that night.
Kaka was next up for Milan, another Brazilian. I kept hoping that two would miss that night, but he didn't. Instead he blasted the ball in and it was 2-2. Vladimir Smicer was next for us. He had a knack for being, how do I put this, not the most reliable Liverpool player. Again my heart stopped beating. I knew this would be his last kick of a ball in a Liverpool shirt and a kept thinking, "Make it a good one son!".
It was thankfully. I started to think of victory, we all did, trying not to get too carried away with ourselves. I had been here before with England and then tasted the bitter taste of defeat. I then saw Shevchenko walking up.
I immediately started thinking of our next penalty taker, who happened to be Gerrard, as I was so confident that Shevchenko would score. After all how can the European Footballer of the Year miss the decisive penalty in the Champions league final? We all thought that Shevchenko looked pretty confident. Looking back at it now, it was probably nerves rather than confidence.
"There will be no more second chances if Shevchenko misses," said Tyldesley. We all held our breath. The anxiety was too much.
"AND DUDEK SAVES IT!" Tyldesley cried.
I exploded with raw emotion. We all did. I turned to Dad, who was half way across the room and running towards me.
"YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!" everyone cried with delight.
Dad ran over to me, undid my belt, and picked me up.
"Come here my boy!" he said, while lifting me up in the air.
I gave him a hug and then turned to Aareefah, who had Attiyyah thrust high up in the air, while Ebrahim did the same to Ammarah. I felt something on my back. It was Ikraam.
"Imraan, I swear we've done it, we've done it!" he shouted in my ear.
"I know man, I know!" I yelled back.
At this point dad's mobile started ringing, we knew who it was, it was uncle Arif, but none of us could be bothered to pick it up. We were still too high. At this point all I wanted to do was give Aareefah a hug, but Ebrahim got in the way so I decided to hug him first. I then finally got to Aareefah over what seemed to be a hundred bodies.
"Come here sis, we've done it, we've done it!" I said, while diving on to her.
"I know bro, come on my lads!" she replied. I then turned to Ikraam, who had a gleaming smile on his face, and I gave him another hug before sitting back in my chair. As uncle Arif couldn't get through on Dad's mobile, he rang on the house line. My auntie Abeda picked it up before handing it to Aareefah.
"Aareefah, I CAN'T TAKE IT! I CAN'T TAKE IT!" he said, almost in tears of joy.
"I'M COMING OVER. I'VE GOTTA COME OVER!" he said again. Aareefah turned to me, "Uncle Arif's comin!"
"I knew he would," I replied, still overwhelmed by what had just happened.
Considering Uncle Arif lives about five minutes away, it took him two and a half to get to us. As he rang the doorbell, we knew what to expect. Auntie Abeda opened it and he ran in, kicked his shoes off, threw his keys and jacket on to the floor before jumping on Dad's back.
"YES!" he screamed while punching his right fist in the air and grabbing Aareefah with the other hand.
I sat there with my arms open waiting for him to jump on me, but it seemed to take an eternity for him to notice my signal. He finally came and gave me a hug.
While we were waiting for the players to get to the podium so Gerrard could lift the cup up, I shouted at Aareefah, "Where's my scarf?"
"It's over here!" she announced, before handing it to me just in time for us to wave it before Gerrard picked the illustrious cup up to all our delight.
I went to bed that night with a smile bigger than the Cheshire cat himself but I couldn't sleep as I kept thinking about what had just happen.
So Liverpool became champions of Europe for the fifth time in the club's history and I'll tell you what, no matter what I, Aareefah, Ikram or Liverpool Football Club do in the future, I'll never forget those special hours during that one night in May. |
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