‘It’ll stay in my memory for ever’
Dietmar Hamann relives the night he came off the bench to spark Liverpool’s heroics ‘It’ll stay in my memory for ever’
From The TimesMay 22, 2007
‘It’ll stay in my memory for ever’
Dietmar Hamann relives the night he came off the bench to spark Liverpool’s heroics
Dietmar Hamann lifted the European Cup after coming on as a substitute at half-time when Liverpool were 3-0 down against AC Milan two years ago. Now at Manchester City, the midfield player will cheer on his former teammates in Athens when he attends the match as a Mastercard Ambassador. Paul Rhys talks to him about that glorious night in Istanbul.
How important was your performance in Turkey and are you aware that some Liverpool fans think you are the hero of the night?
It’s the first time I’ve heard that. People have come up to me and said, “You changed the game”. But I say the game changed and I just played my part. We just kept the ball better, believed in ourselves and got the goals at the right time.
What were you thinking when you were 3-0 down and watching from the bench?
If I was a neutral observer I would’ve thought it was some of the best football I have ever seen. The way Milan played in the first half was awesome. Obviously I was disappointed not to be playing, but you get on with it.
Liverpool fans were surprised when Harry Kewell’s name was on the teamsheet instead of yours. How did you feel about that?
An hour before kick-off I thought I would be picked to play. But you’ve got to bite your tongue, be disappointed for a minute or two and then be professional. Everyone took part – you have 18 players behind you and people like Vladimir Smicer [who scored the second goal] can come on and make a difference.
Smicer had a disappointing career at Liverpool. You must have been happy he had that moment of triumph.
He knew he was going to leave the club after the match and he showed a lot of character to get out there and score. He got a lot of injuries at Liverpool, but in terms of ability he’s one of the best in the world.
When you came on as a substitute, did you have a plan to change the match?
We just had to steady the ship. I knew if we scored one we’d get another. Even though we’d been torn apart, I just thought with the crowd behind us, if we get one [the Milan players] might think, “We’re in for a game”. After the second goal they started worrying a bit, after three goals they were thinking, “What’s going on here?”
What happened in the dressing-room at half-time?
Wasn’t there some confusion about who was going to come off? Djimi Traoré was meant to be coming off, but then Steve Finnan had a problem with his groin. I wasn’t sure if he could play 90 minutes. I knew Djimi was coming off, so when I saw him running back out I was worried we were starting with 12 players. I had to count them to make sure.
What does it feel like to lift the European Cup?
It’s just unbelievable, the way that we did it. It’ll be in the memory for ever. We were sitting in the dressing-room not knowing whether we had won or whether we were dreaming. Sitting looking at each other thinking, “How the hell have we won that? What went on there?”
The fans were singing You’ll Never Walk Alone as you warmed up at half-time. How much did they help to turn the game around?
I already knew they were special, and I think they trusted us. The team had taken them to Istanbul and they supported us even though we were getting beat. They thought, “What’s the point of not believing? Stick with the team no matter what.” It just shows what a special group of supporters they are.
Do you think the crowd helped Liverpool to beat Chelsea in this year’s semi-finals, as they did two years ago?
They always have had an influence. Liverpool have a good record against Chelsea and it can be intimidating [at Anfield]. On a Wednesday night it can be quite hard for visiting teams.
As a former Germany player, were you confident going into the penalty shoot-out competition against Milan?
The thing is, by the time we got to penalties we should’ve been on the way home. At half-time we were dead and buried. They had won on penalties [against Juventus in the final] at Old Trafford two years earlier, they were experienced and you don’t expect them to miss two or three. But a lot of it is in the mind, they thought, “We shouldn’t even be here [because they had been 3-0 ahead at the interval]”. At the same time we thought, “They should be celebrating, but now we’ve got a chance”.
Was it hard for you to leave Liverpool after so many years at Anfield?
It wasn’t easy to leave after seven years, but everything comes to an end. I didn’t want to go, but I didn’t want to be there playing 15 games a season. So I moved on to a new challenge. That’s the way it goes.
How hard will it be to watch the game on Wednesday when you could have been playing?
I don’t think about it. I’m not there any more, I’ll be watching them as a fan and hopefully they’ll win. I always enjoy going back, it’s become a second home.
What was it like going home to Liverpool after Istanbul?
Unbelievable. The number of people that turned out [for the open-top tour], almost everybody had a tear in their eye because the club hadn’t won the trophy for so long. And we, as a team, had been outsiders. From the quarter-finals we went from strength to strength.
Kaká will be a significant threat for Milan in Athens. How do Liverpool stop him without you?
We’ve got enough players with the ability to look after him, but I don’t think there’s one player who needs to man-mark him. They’ve just got to play their game, they can compete with the best. There’s another ten top-class players in Milan’s team and any one of them can hurt you
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