Football’s greatest prize is within reach

THE lyrics of the world famous Liverpool FC anthem includes “and when the storm is over, a golden sky awaits”. It has really been a couple of stormy years since that balmy night in Istanbul in 2005 when we clinched victory from looming defeat to annex a record fifth Champions League against a game and gallant AC Milan FC.

It was a rare night that set the Turkish skies ablaze with only the 2016 failed presidential coup coming closest.

But that golden sky is no more a dot on the horizon but rather a reality that would catapult Ukraine into the football hall of fame come Saturday, May 26.

It is the day when our beloved Liverpool take on Spanish giants Real Madrid in the much coveted Champions League Final in the capital city of Kyiv (formerly known as Kiev when it fell under the Russian Federation). It is a modern metropolis, safe and cheap and filled with lovely beaches, tree-lined streets, green spaces and historical churches. Henderson and James Milner from the engine room, their fire power should be too much for Real Madrid.

The last time Ukraine came under the international radar was when a Malaysian airliner was shot down from the sky, but this time the sky will be ablaze for all the right reasons, celebrating Britain’s annexure of European royalty on the soccer pitch… a colossal and memorable sixth Champions League victory in the annals of Liverpool’s history. And it will be no different for us South African supporters miles away.

We also have that hunch, so accurate and so prescient that to think of anything but a victory will be to betray everything that we believe in.

Whilst the Manchester United naysayers look the other way or support Real Madrid, we at Liverpool have football’s greatest prize within our reach.