Anfield of dreams
Klopp star Daire goes viral after meeting his Liverpool heroes
THE star of Liverpool Football Club’s mega-viral Christmas video has revealed how he and Jurgen Klopp nearly left one of his heroes on the treatment table during his visit to the club’s training base.
Twelve-year-old Daire Gorman, from Tonniscoffey, Co. Monaghan, was invited over to meet the Liverpool manager and his players
‘Klopp went over Endo’s toe with the chair’
earlier this month. The visit – which was captured in a moving video released by the club on Christmas Day – has been watched over 20 million times.
Speaking to the Irish Mail on Sunday this weekend, Daire described an incident from his training ground tour with the German coach that didn’t make the final cut of the heart-warming video.
‘[Klopp] was wheeling me round the place and I saw [Liverpool player Wataru] Endo,’ Daire said.
‘I put my hand up and waved, like “Oh my god, it’s Endo” and he came back up and chatted. And then Klopp actually went over Endo’s toe with the chair on the way past. ‘[Klopp] just said, “Oops, foul.” Not even an apology or anything. Just “Oops, foul” and off we went again.’
The superfan said he was later asked if Endo ‘got down and rolled around the place’ after the clash. ‘And I said: “No, he’s not a full Premier League player yet”’, (the Japanese midfielder has only been at Liverpool since the summer).
Liverpool’s popular boss was ‘very down to earth’, said Daire, who is one of just a handful of people in the world with Crommelin Syndrome, which caused him to be born without forearms or femur bones.
Daire admitted: ‘The anticipation was kind of killing me before Klopp came in. I was like: “Is he gonna come in now? Hurry up!” The cameramen were coming in and out and every time I heard the door I looked over, “Is that Klopp? No it’s not – it’s a cameraman”.’
The young Liverpool fan said he ‘didn’t really pass any remarks on the cameras being there’ once the manager walked in.
‘I just said: “I’m going to enjoy myself”,’ he said.
Daire, his little sister Aoife and his parents Shelley and Kenny also got to meet Egyptian superstar Mohammad Salah, Daire’s favourite player Luis Diaz, Darwin Núñez, Virgil Van Dijk, Cody Gakpo, Kostas Tsimikas, Alexis McAllister, Adrian, and Dominik Szoboszlai.
He said of Spain international Thiago Alcantara: ‘As soon as I came in the door he was, “Hello, how are you?”. He’s very nice.’
The sixth-class pupil first came to Liverpool’s attention through an earlier video he featured in, which also went viral.
Attending his first-ever match at the club’s ground, Anfield, in September – a trip set up by the Garda-affiliated Little Blue Heroes charity – dad Kenny recorded Daire crying during the club anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone before kick-off. After the video received millions of views, the club sent a crew over to interview Daire – and play him a personalised video of Klopp inviting the family for a tour of Liverpool’s training facility. Mum Shelley said the family ‘hadn’t a clue’ the surprise was coming.
‘All I remember is breaking down in tears and thinking: “I’m gonna meet Jurgen Klopp!”’ Daire recalled enthusiastically.
He said it was ‘madness’ that 20 million people have watched the Christmas video. ‘It’s taken off in Ghana, South Africa, Australia, America… it’s gone all over the globe,’ he said. ‘It’s everywhere.’
Daire plays powerchair football – a variation for electric wheelchair users – once a week in Belfast.
He said: ‘There’s been a few that have contacted me from football saying the video’s class and “Jesus, what’s Klopp like?”’
Daire said there are ‘so many questions that I can’t answer’ – but he hasn’t grown tired of talking about it yet.
‘The anticipation was kind of killing me’