Head in my hands, deep breaths and sighs, teary-eyed from all the beautiful memories, is how I am while I watch all the farewell videos of my current favourite player, Mo Salah. After a stellar record-breaking career, he is inching towards the final game of his Liverpool career. The words I have to describe the last 10 years of my life, as a Liverpool FC fan, will not do justice to the overwhelming sense of gratitude I have for all of the club as a whole. Those of you who know me know that I have been a fan of this club for more than 25 years now. And all this while, I have never shared that level of passion for anything else.
My cousins ask me, so do some of my friends, family and colleagues, what, when, how, where, who and why did a guy from Rajgangpur become a fan of Liverpool FC, when everyone around me was either a cricket fan, or not a fan of any sports altogether. There was, of course, one friend, who was a fan of basketball. I remember this as he had told me he used to wake up early to watch the NBA. So while I wasn't alone in my eccentricity, I was definitely not the 'norm'. What is normal? Average of all craziness.
Why did I choose Liverpool?
I think it was the colour red. Red inspires passion, which is why I also loved and still love Ferrari. All those years ago, when my window to the outside world was just cable TV and the sports section in the newspaper, I would follow my favourite teams and players there. Scorelines of the football game, interviews of legends, opinion pieces of commentators etc. mattered more to me than my teachers' lessons. I remember watching Ronaldinho score a looping freekick over David Seaman, when he was touted as a fresh new talent who became a star after the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Of course, Ronaldo Nazario was one of my favorite players but he played in the La Liga, which wasn't telecast on cable TV back then, but the Barclays Premier League was. Michael Owen, was a commentators delight with his pace and finishing at Liverpool. If not for the looping freekick of Ronalidinho, I would have expected the English team to go further in that world cup. They had two songs for that world cup that year, one by Vangelis, which was every Venga boy's' song ever, and the other was called 'Boom' by Anastasia. Even after 28 years, there is no better song than Ricky Martin's The Cup of Life. Shakira's Waka Waka comes close, so does U2's One.
Rooney had not even stepped up into the scene yet. Cristiano Ronaldo was still in Portugal. Nobody knew of a little wonder called Messi at La Masia. The legends of the game back in the 2000s were Zidane, Figo, Kaka, Rivaldo, the Italians (Maldini, Materazzi, Nesta, Gattuso, Cannavaro), Shearer, Fowler, Henry, Bergkamp, Kahn, Lahm, Batistuta, Ballack, etc. and of course the heartthrob, David Beckham. Funnily enough, I haven't yet mentioned my Captain o' Captain fantastic, Steven Gerrard. Gerrard was out of the 2002 World Cup due to a Groin Injury. Although he took over the captaincy from Sami Hyppia a year later for Liverpool FC. I used to wonder what these youngsters would do in the world of football. Every one of the above players went on to do incredible things in world football. But what Stevie did for Liverpool, single-handedly carrying the club through for 15+ years, can't ever be matched. People remember him for his heroics at the 2005 Champions League Final, though he had already won my heart a couple of years earlier. His influence only came to light during the 2005 Champions League campaign, especially for his goal against Olympiakos, which made sure we qualified for the knockouts.
Steven Gerrard... Mr. Liverpool.
After the Champions League Final, there were reports of Stevie joining Mourinho at Chelsea. There was no social media back then, so all those rumours showed up on dial-up internet-enabled tabloids, or in the sports section or on Sportcenter on ESPN. It was my dinner time show which I would only get to watch if I had been a perfect son and a perfect brother through the day. 30 mins of access to the TV remote was a hard-earned privilege. The credit for the season should go to Benitez and his new signings, Luis Garcia and Xabi Alonso. Luis Garcia for his wonderful lob against Juventus and his ghost goal against Chelsea, while Alonso pulled the strings of the midfield so that Gerrard could attack the opposition defenders. If there was the most difficult way of securing Champions League football for the upcoming it was by becoming the reigning champions and automatically qualifying for it. Liverpool's arch rival Everton FC, who had finished above Liverpool that season in fourth place, but Liverpool had the last laugh by winning the Champions League while Everton was unable to beat Villareal to miss the Champions League spot. What a spicy ending to a season, but no one to banter with in Rajgangpur. Even after the final of 2005, Stevie's extra time screamer against West Ham in the FA cup final, his goals and assists in clutch moments against our rivals, Everton and Manchester United, his telepathic connection with Fernando Torres, his inspiring leadership with Suarez, and his heartbreaking slip against Chelsea, to miss out on yet another Premier League title, could only endear him to Liverpool fans all over the world. Stevie stands head and shoulder above any Liverpool player I have worshipped. Mohamed Salah comes second, but doing what Stevie did for a Liverpool squad that didn't have what it takes, is not anyone's cup of tea. Yes, all that made me a staunch Liverpool supporter, with a dream to catch a Liverpool game at Anfield, all the while I was planted to my roots in Rajgangpur.
Rajgangpur ... where is this place?
Even the most knowledgeable of people in Odisha, which in itself was among the poorest of provinces in India, would know of Rajgangpur, or give a damn about this little town. The existence of Rajganpur can only be confirmed if you have a very detailed political map of Odisha, and a very high magnifying glass, to find this little town. Yes, I grew up in this little place, whose identity came from a cement plant, that was set up in the 1950s to produce cement for the construction of the longest dam of the world, the Hirakud Dam, built across the river Mahanadi. Beyond this, Rajgangpur has never ever featured in mainstream media. That said, you may be assuming that people of Rajgangpur would be subjected to abject poverty, no access to infrastructure, etc; but thanks to the cement plant, there was a township, which had access to infrastructure like a few hard court tennis court, a world class swimming pool, a wonderful club with indoor games like Table Tennis, Badminton, Snooker, in-house theatre and what not. It was like a luxury oasis of facilities in the middle of nowhere. As a home work for my readers, try to find Rajgangpur on Google Maps and post it as a comment. If there is even one comment on this blog, I would be proud that I have one reader, at least.
So, after almost 35 years of my life, almost 25 years of following Liverpool FC, I have traced the genesis of my love for Liverpool FC.
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