Dortmund 2001: the greatest UEFA Cup final in history
Istanbul 2005: the greatest comeback in European Cup Final history
Cardiff 2006: arguably the greatest FA Cup Final in history Seven major finals this century: THIRTY THREE goals in total. Liverpool FC certainly don't do things by halves!
THE experts are quite rightly calling the 2006 FA Cup Final the greatest of modern times, and who are we to disagree after yet another extraordinary chapter in the history of Liverpool Football club was written? I must confess some of my thoughts leading up to the game centred on how it could possibly even come close to what we witnessed in Istanbul a year ago. Well, somehow, the emotional roller coaster of May 25th 2005 was replicated with interest in Cardiff on Saturday! Given the fact that we were dead and buried as the Millennium Stadium's P.A. man announced the beginning of injury time, this comeback was arguably even more remarkable. A lot of credit must go to West Ham for an open, entertaining game played in an excellent spirit. They go about the game in the right way, and in Alan Pardew have a manager who is dignity personified. Pardew, and Paul Jewell, have made a mockery of the notion that the so-called smaller clubs, and some of the bigger ones, must kick, snarl and dive their way through every game in order to compete. Sam Allardyce, take note. Equally, when it comes to conducting yourself properly both on and off the field, Messrs Ferguson, Mourinho and Wenger would do well to take a look in Rafa's direction. The key to what we've achieved thus far under Rafa Benitez is inner-belief and a never-say die attitude. Reina and Carragher had personal nightmare moments on Saturday, but both they and the their team-mates had the strength of character to put it to the backs of their minds and claw us back into the game. Contrast this to the FA Cup replay against Palace in 2003, when Houllier publicly declared that Heskey's miss at the start of the second half "deflated the whole team." However, as time ticked away on Saturday, I'd virtually given up all hope. Paul Koncheskey's bizarre third goal looked to have knocked the stuffing out of us. It started to look as though this really was one game too many in a season that began 10 months ago. Thankfully, Steven Gerrard had other ideas! Gerrard has looked like the player of two years ago this season, finally rid of the turmoil that clouded the last two summers. | 
