Kewell relives Liverpool Euro drama in Istanbul
INJURY MARRED TEAM’S DRAMATIC NIGHT OF GLORY
“IT is the one game you want to play the full 90 minutes, but sadly I didn’t get to do that,” says Harry Kewell when asked for his memories of Liverpool’s unforgettable night in Istanbul.
Of all the tales which have been told from that famous triumph 13 years ago, the Notts County manager’s own story of what unfolded at the Ataturk Stadium is a mixture of frustration and elation.
“It is probably the biggest game you can play in as an Australian because the chances of winning the World Cup are slim,” he continues.
“I was not expected to play because I was coming back from injury, but I was playing well and I felt good.
“Rafael Benitez decided to start me and I was ‘yes, I am 100 per cent ready.’”
“I felt comfortable in the game, but then I remember going in for a tackle with (Gennaro) Gattuso and my groin just snapped.
“There was nothing I could do and that was the end of it.”
When Kewell left the pitch in the 23rd minute to be replaced by Vladimir Smicer, AC Milan were already a goal up through Paolo Maldini.
Hernan Crespo then scored another two before half-time as the Rossoneri threatened humiliation on European football’s biggest stage.
Liverpool’s epitaph had been written by the pundits, the commentators and the neutrals, but the fans still retained hope that mission impossible could be accomplished.
While Milan were preparing for the parties and the procession and Benitez was making a crucial tactical switch by sending on Dietmar Hamann, Kewell was in the medical room.
He was joined by former Notts defender Steve Finnan, but it was not long before the doors crashed open as Liverpool began to mount the most incredible fightback ever witnessed in a major final.
Steven Gerrard, Smicer and Xabi Alonso made it 3-3, before Jerzy Dudek’s incredible save from Andriy Shevchenko in extra time paved the way for an astonishing victory in the shootout.
“The doctor came running in to tell us Gerrard had scored and then two minutes later he is back again to say we’ve scored another,” Kewell recalls.
“Then for the final time, he shouts we’ve got a penalty.
“Steve and I just ripped the ice off to see Xabi score.
“To witness what happened that night was phenomenal. It could have all been for nothing had it not been for that save from Dudek from Shevchenko.
“He was a great keeper and once he saved that, I thought he had the better of Milan in the shootout.
“We had heard rumours afterwards that, during half-time, Milan were doing their hair and had t-shirts ready, but the thing about football is there are always two halves.
“The worst thing you can do in football is get ahead of yourself. As soon as you take that foot off the pedal and concede a goal, it comes as a shock.
“All of a sudden you are on the back foot like Milan were.”
Kewell faced some criticism about his own contribution which led him to angrily refute suggestions that he had feigned injury.
Those accusations clearly stung, but he accepted his spell at Liverpool, having joined them from Leeds for a fee of £5m in 2003, was ruined by his time on the treatment table.
You wonder what Kewell could have achieved at Anfield had he stayed fit and it was underlined earlier this year when Benitez, in an interview with Spanish journalist Guillem Balague, said the Australian was one of the best players in the squad.
“When Liverpool came in for me, I had a great selection of clubs to choose from at the time but once I had spoken to Gerard Houllier I had my mind made up what I wanted to do,” recalls Kewell.
“I had a big reputation when I signed, but when I look back at my five years at Liverpool it was tough.
“If you look at the time I had there, three of those years I was injured.
“Then it becomes a cycle of coming back and getting injured, so you’re not getting a natural flow of games.
“Of course it was disappointing because knew I had the ability.
“But then I did get to play in two Champions League finals, an FA Cup final, the FIFA World Club Cup and the Super Cup.
“I got to play in a lot of finals and it evened itself out.
“I was very lucky to play them even though I got injured in them although Benitez used to say that when that did happen in a final they usually won so cheers for that mate.
“But in all seriousness, Benitez is a great manager who is very tactical. He had a certain way of playing and you had to abide by that.
“If you didn’t, he’d just get somebody else in.
“He’s gone on to manage the best teams in the world. What he’s done at Newcastle is phenomenal. “He needs help, but he’s smart enough to get what he needs.”
Kewell eventually left Liverpool in 2008 after making just 93 appearances, scoring 12 goals.
He subsequently moved to Galatasaray on a free transfer at a time
when he revealed that a lot of clubs tried to offer him a pay as you play contract.
“My three years at Galatasaray were probably the best of my career,” he says.
“There was a lot of criticism aimed at me about what happened in the final, but I’ve been to darker places than that with what I’ve been through.
“You have to have thick skin in this game. But when I was leaving Liverpool managers would say ‘yeah, we’ll take you but only on pay as you play.’
“It was a cheap way to try to sign me.
“I decided to go to a warmer climate and I fell in love with the game again.”