Is Steven Gerrard Real Human??

13 May 2006 Liverpool 3-3 West Ham (aet) - FA Cup Final
Liverpool win 3-1 on penalties

Liverpoolfc.tv - Liverpool have won the FA Cup for a 7th time after Pepe Reina saved three of West Ham's penalties after a stoppage time goal from Steven Gerrard had made it 3-3 and taken the game into extra time and then penalties.

BBC - The Hammers took an early two-goal lead thanks to Carragher's own goal and Ashton's close-range strike, before Cisse pulled one back. Gerrard lashed home an equaliser after the break before Konchesky's speculative cross put West Ham ahead. Gerrard's stunning last-minute strike forced extra-time, with Reina saving from Zamora, Konchesky and Ferdinand in the shoot-out. Hamann, Gerrard and Riise all scored from the spot for Liverpool, with only veteran Sheringham finding the net for West Ham.

Gerrard: "Just before my second goal I had taken a free-kick and it nearly went out of the stadium, my legs were so weary, so I don't quite know where I got the energy from. I must admit I was absolutely delighted to hit the next shot like that. I didn't mean to put it exactly there but knew I had to get good contact to make sure it would hit the target and I caught it really sweetly. It was a great moment when it went in, and I don't know how I did it.

"In fact, in extra time I just didn't want the ball. I just kept looking at the clock and wanting it to run out. I had absolutely nothing left. We basically finished the game with about five men! People were going down with cramp all over the place, we'd put so much effort in. The players were so brave because there were quite a few who would have come off if we had any subs left. We have a great team spirit here and we needed it to win that Cup."

"The manager asked me if I wanted to take a penalty and I asked if I could have the first. He told me, 'No, you're having the third'." "But once we got to penalties we had faith in Pepe." "We are always having competitions in training and having a go at him. And we know how difficult it is to beat him. He is so agile."

Riise: "I never thought we'd lost the game yesterday, not even when there was only five minutes left and not even when we went into injury time. When you have the best player in the world in your side then you know that anything is possible. I was just praying for somebody to do something special and Stevie came up trumps again. When the ball hit the net I felt like running over to him to give him a big kiss but then I decided against it!"

"I asked the manager to let me take the fourth penalty given what happened in Istanbul last year. That hurt me." "I blasted it down the middle and it flew in, and as soon as it hit the back of the net, I burst into tears. They were stinging my eyes. It was just so emotional after what happened last season. This was closure, a chance for me to get revenge and put things right."

Cisse: "It was a great ball from Steven and it was nice for me to score but the most important thing was we won the game for our fans. What can you say about Steven Gerrard? He was amazing and he is the man! It was special to play in an FA Cup Final and it was just a fantastic day. A few of us had cramp in the game but our fans kept us going and you just want to run and run for them."

Rafa: "We do like to make things difficult for ourselves in finals and maybe it's not the best for my heart. People have said to me it was like Istanbul but I say 'no' because then we were 3-0 down at half-time. Cisse scored a goal just before half-time to make it 2-1 and I had confidence we could come back and win. Credit to the players who just kept on going until the end and we never gave up."

Gerrard: "We always knew if it went to penalties we had a really good chance, we feel we've got the better goalkeeper on the day. He made a great save in the last minute and he deserves to be the hero."

Reina: "I think really that I didn't deserve it because my game today wasn't the best - it was a difficult day for me. But in the lottery of the penalties this time I was lucky."