From YNWA.
This is part of an interview with Xabi in today's El Pais. It's very long so I can't translate the whole thing, but this is the bit about us. At the end of the interview he says he likes film noir, Neil Young and Tom Waits. Not your average footballer.
"It started off being an adventure, and now I know that it changed my life," says Xabi, who considers the years he spent beside the Merseyas a vital reference point in his life, for more than just football reasons, for more than the victory in that unforgettable Champions League final of 2005 against Milan, with Liverpool were losing 3-0 at half time, came back and ended up winning on penalties, for more than the unforgettable game of April 15th 2009, the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy, when 96 reds died in Sheffield Wednesday's stadium.
"In Liverpool I learned to deal with problems that at home in San Sebastian I hadn't even thought about," he recognises when he remembers the move.
Nagore [his wife], who had worked in a fashion store in San Sebastian, was, at the time, working as a costume designerfor the film ¡Aupa Etxebeste!, by Asier Altuna y Telmo Esnal.
When shooting finished, she left for Liverpool, where Xabi had already been for two months, and started working in a hotel in the centre, very near their house in the docks.
Xabi, who had been trying to keep studying for an engineering degree, gave it up in its third year, shortly before the birth of his first child, in circumstances that show something of the way Xabi views life, and which brought him into collision with Rafa Benitez, his manager, when he wanted to be with Nagore at this critical time.
"In reality, nothing serious happened," he says. "We played against Newcastle on the Saturday and on Sunday Nagore's waters broke. On Monday I had to travel to Milan to play in the Champions League and I told the boss that if he wanted, I would join the team after the baby was born," he explains.
"I can't wait for you," his manager told him. Xabi says that he understood, but he stayed in Liverpool. "Benitez never tried to make me go to Milan, he knew that I would stay," reveals the midfielder.
Speaking about Liverpool makes him emotional. He grew up watching games in the Atoxta stadium with his grandfather and Karlos Arguiñano, who had seats beside him, so he has a very particular appreciation of football. For this reason he has no doubts: "Anfield is the temple. It might seem an exaggeration, but for me it is the most incredible stadium in the world."
Beyond that, and given that Liverpool is a hard city, he says that its vitality is contagious: "Liverpool has the character of its people, mainly workers, hardened people, who suffered enormously during the years of Thatcherism, when they closed the shipyards. A feeling of pride was generated then which is still alive. The people are used to having to fight for what they believe in, and that character infects you. I felt really good there. Why did I leave? Because the time had definitely come and Madrid were knockingat the door again."
It was only for football reasons, because he was so happy in England that even the food wasn't a problem. Not a week went by without a friend or relative coming to visit him with their suitcases packed full of beans, fresh vegetables and even tejas deTolosa (a type of biscuit). Some even managed to sneak in T-bone steaks,knowing that for Xabi there are few things more important than eating well. "I'm Basque, and that has to show itself in some way," he jokes.
"It started off being an adventure, and now I know that it changed my life," says Xabi, who considers the years he spent beside the Merseyas a vital reference point in his life, for more than just football reasons, for more than the victory in that unforgettable Champions League final of 2005 against Milan, with Liverpool were losing 3-0 at half time, came back and ended up winning on penalties, for more than the unforgettable game of April 15th 2009, the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy, when 96 reds died in Sheffield Wednesday's stadium.
"In Liverpool I learned to deal with problems that at home in San Sebastian I hadn't even thought about," he recognises when he remembers the move.
Nagore [his wife], who had worked in a fashion store in San Sebastian, was, at the time, working as a costume designerfor the film ¡Aupa Etxebeste!, by Asier Altuna y Telmo Esnal.
When shooting finished, she left for Liverpool, where Xabi had already been for two months, and started working in a hotel in the centre, very near their house in the docks.
Xabi, who had been trying to keep studying for an engineering degree, gave it up in its third year, shortly before the birth of his first child, in circumstances that show something of the way Xabi views life, and which brought him into collision with Rafa Benitez, his manager, when he wanted to be with Nagore at this critical time.
"In reality, nothing serious happened," he says. "We played against Newcastle on the Saturday and on Sunday Nagore's waters broke. On Monday I had to travel to Milan to play in the Champions League and I told the boss that if he wanted, I would join the team after the baby was born," he explains.
"I can't wait for you," his manager told him. Xabi says that he understood, but he stayed in Liverpool. "Benitez never tried to make me go to Milan, he knew that I would stay," reveals the midfielder.
Speaking about Liverpool makes him emotional. He grew up watching games in the Atoxta stadium with his grandfather and Karlos Arguiñano, who had seats beside him, so he has a very particular appreciation of football. For this reason he has no doubts: "Anfield is the temple. It might seem an exaggeration, but for me it is the most incredible stadium in the world."
Beyond that, and given that Liverpool is a hard city, he says that its vitality is contagious: "Liverpool has the character of its people, mainly workers, hardened people, who suffered enormously during the years of Thatcherism, when they closed the shipyards. A feeling of pride was generated then which is still alive. The people are used to having to fight for what they believe in, and that character infects you. I felt really good there. Why did I leave? Because the time had definitely come and Madrid were knockingat the door again."
It was only for football reasons, because he was so happy in England that even the food wasn't a problem. Not a week went by without a friend or relative coming to visit him with their suitcases packed full of beans, fresh vegetables and even tejas deTolosa (a type of biscuit). Some even managed to sneak in T-bone steaks,knowing that for Xabi there are few things more important than eating well. "I'm Basque, and that has to show itself in some way," he jokes.
from now on I will skip talking about our finances. That is a promise and will save myself from looking like a 
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