On the greatest night in the club's recent history, Liverpool supporter John Hynes was marooned in deepest Africa. But that didn't stop him from watching the match.
THE safari guide's face lit up as he mentioned the big five. "Leopard, rhino, lion, elephant and buffalo are the top attractions in the Serengeti," he reliably informed us.
Unfortunately it was another big five that I had on my mind. It involved beating AC Milan and keeping the European Cup. The final was only a week away but I was on a different continent.
In January when we booked our trip to Tanzania I informed my mate: "I'll have to cancel if the Reds make it to Istanbul."
Being a Villa fan he laughed. And despite that terrific night against Olympiakos I still didn't believe we could make it.
But now the Red Army were on the way to Turkey. That's where I should have been but I couldn't afford to cancel the African trip.
My most pressing worry wasn't about the threat of Kaka and co. We had to locate a TV that would be showing the game.
As it turned out we were on the island of Zanzibar on the night of the final. The tiny coastal village of Nungwi was our location. One hundred yards from our beach hut stood a bar and outside it a large sign declaring: Champions League Final tonight. Panic over, I relaxed on the beach for the day.
The weather was getting stormy as we arrived in the bar later that evening and met up with other tourists. Tim was an American guy who had "never watched a soccer match before". Despite this he had still heard of Liverpool FC. Somehow he had also heard of a London team that plays in blue.
He couldn't understand how they could be champions of England but not be in the Champions League final. Naturally I took great pleasure in informing him that Chelski had been eliminated on an unforgettable night in L4.
Of course the bar was packed with locals. We had seen numerous English shirts on our travels in Tanzania. They mainly consisted of Arsenal, Man U and Liverpool. Strangely we also spotted a West Brom shirt.
With the time difference there was a lot of confusion regarding kick-off but we eventually took our seats at the bar. Naturally I was asked for my prediction.
