The poem ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling is structured as paternal advice from father to son. For football fans, it might come across as a coach talking to a player. “If you can keep your head when all about you. Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,” is the first line, and it’s easy to imagine a certain Spanish manager taking that to heart.
This week marks 18 years since Liverpool beat Olympiacos 3-1 to secure their passage into the knockout stages of the 2004/05 Champions League. What would have always been viewed as a fantastic European night at Anfield was granted legendary status thanks to what the Reds achieved in Istanbul six months later.
The sight of near-motionless Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez being enthusiastically hugged by a steward following Steven Gerrard’s decisive goal that night has become one of many iconic images from the game. The players and fans were understandably going berserk, yet the Spaniard retained an air of detached cool about proceedings. Keeping his head when all about him were losing theirs, in other words.
