The Kaiser - A Real Mate

This is one of my favorite parts of the book. It was Euro 2000 on 17 June in Charleroi England played their old rival Germany. The England boss Kevin Keegan sent Gerrard on for substitution, who had played just ONE England friendly. As a young lad, he was definitely nervous. See how the generosity of Didi helped him.

".......When Didi arrived at Liverpool, I was ecstatic. He's a great player, and I learn off him day in, day out. I have always watched Didi, picking up little tips to improve me and I was gutted when he left Liverpool in 2006. He is the ultimate holding-role player, a clever sentry who allows other midfielders to bomb forward. His qualities were not restricted to the art of tackling and passing.
My admiration for him as a man grew during my twenty-nine minutes in opposition to him in Charleroi. After my first few passes, Didi ran past and said, 'Keep doing what you are doing.' Unbelievable. I was stunned. We were sworn enemies until the referee's final whistle, representing rival countries in a vital game with half the world tuned in. Yet here he was, helping me. Incredible. Germany themselves had so much riding on the game. They had drawn their first match, with Romania, and were trailing here. Yet even in the heat of battle, Didi was prepared to think about me, a young club-mate struggling not to sink in unfamiliar international waters. Didi could see in my face that I was sweating, nervous and panicky. When the ball next went out of play, I turned to him.
'I am shitting myself here, mate,' I said. 'I'm fucking terrified.'
Didi looked at me. 'Relax, Stevie,' he said. 'Just do what you do normally.'
Didi's kindness to an opponent that evening showed he was a real mate. As long as I live, I will never forget out exchange of words in Charleroi."

"....I treasure the shirt he gave me at the final whistle. It's upstairs, and when I look at it all the memories of that night in Charleroi come flooding back. The nerves, the tackle, the tree points. 'All the best in your next game,' said Didi, before heading off to the demoralized German dressing-room. Typical Didi. Even then, in what must have been a time of real heartache, he was prepared to think about someone else. My life took a turn for the better the day I met Didi Hamann."

Of course, this is not the whole story. After the exchange of words, Gerrard started to go after him and made some tackles. "I screamed at him, standing over him. 'I didn't fucking touch you. Get up! I'm going to get a yellow unless you fucking get up now. Two yellow and I miss the quarters.'".........If you're interested, go get the book, 'Gerrard: My Autobiography'.

I miss Didi a lot, and I think I'll feel strange seeing him back to Anfield plays against us this Saturday. But as Alan Hansen writes in this week's LFC magazine, "Even without Sissoko getting injured you could say that Hamann in there with Steven Gerrard in front of him was one of the best combinations but that's gone now and let's not forget that Didi is 33. He wasn't getting any quicker and I've spoken consistently in this column about the need for pace. If you had Hamann in front of jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia there isn't a lot of pace there so sooner or later you've got to do something about that. We're another year down the line and they're all getting older so I'd back Rafa Benitez on this one. Hamann was a brilliant player for Liverpool and he gave the back four trmendous protection but the manager got it right on this occasion. It was time to move him on."