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26 mai Xabi Alonso - May, 26th 2006It was a real shame to have to come off during the FA Cup final but I am not worried about my participation in the World Cup. I had been injured in the run-up to the final, I had hardly trained that week, my ankle still wasn't 100% right, and the Cardiff pitch was not in great condition. Those factors all came together to force me to go off in the second half - I am just thankful that we got the result we needed in the end.
It has been a very long season and we have played far more games than would normally be the case because we had to qualify for the Champions League and because we went to Japan for the World Club Championship but I have had a week's break and I feel ok now that I am with the Spain squad in Las Rozas, just outside Madrid.
It was important to have a break between the end of the domestic season and joining up with the national team squad - psychologically as much as anything else. You need to be able to take the pressure off and change your mindset a bit. Being with the national team is different to being with your club; you have to spend two and half months living together and sharing every minute with each other, so it is a different kind of challenge and before that, it is vital you have a break to relax and clear your head. I spent a bit of time in San Sebastian with my mates and then went down to Córdoba for Pepe Reina's wedding, which was nice. I haven't had a complete break from sport, mind you - I've done a bit of running and even played some tennis, so there's no risk of me being unfit for the world cup! Xabi Alonso - May, 26th 2006To win the FA Cup the way we did was incredible; coming back from 2-0 and 3-2 down in the very last minute and then to take the trophy on penalties was amazing - especially after winning the European Cup in a very similar way last year. I can assure you that we don’t do it on purpose!
It was a hard, exciting final and as time ticked away, we thought it was all over. West Ham played superbly and were defending very well, while we weren't really creating many chances. Then Steven Gerrard produced that incredible shot. He was completely shattered, he had cramp, the ball was bouncing and he was 35 yards or more away from goal. I never expected him to even try shooting from there but he just hit the ball so well and it went like an absolute bullet. It was our last chance and it was a sensational goal, really incredible. I leapt off the bench and went absolutely mad - I could hardly believe it.
When we got to penalties, I thought we had a great chance to win it. We all trusted in Pepe. He had an excellent record from the spot in Spain and after almost every training session we stay behind and take penalties against him - and he tends to save more than he concedes. We had also reached the point when penalties were the best option: loads of our players were really struggling physically, people were going down all over the place, and we just knew we had to survive to the shoot-out. That made it seem even more epic somehow. It was an incredible final - one I am sure no one will forget in a hurry. 12 mai Xabi Alonso - May, 12th 2006Although I still don’t know for sure whether or not I am going to be fit to play in Saturday's FA Cup final, I am hopeful of making it in time. I trained with the squad yesterday and should do so again today. I planted my foot badly and fell over against Portsmouth last weekend and twisted my ankle but scans showed that it was nothing too serious and I have been able to train. We will still have to wait and see how it reacts today, but fingers crossed I'll be ok.
I really want to play because the FA Cup is special, as we have seen with all the build up this week. It's a competition with such prestige, everyone is talking about it, we have been measured for suits - normal, classic ones, not white ones - and the club has even released its official FA Cup final song. Because the fans have been singing it for over a year now, it's could only be Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire, sung by Ian McCulloch. And not sung by the players - which is probably a good job!
Although everyone considers us favourites, and despite the fact that's logical given our run of form, our league position and the fact that we beat Manchester United and Chelsea, we are not looking at it like that. We know that anything can happen and we really respect West Ham. But hopefully by Saturday evening we'll have our hands on the FA Cup. Wish us luck! Xabi Alonso - May, 12th 2006The Spain squad meets up again on Monday - our final meeting before Luis Aragonés names his final 23 - and, although I won't be joining them because we are busy preparing the FA Cup final, I'm getting very excited about the World Cup. It's a chance to play in something I have only been able to see on television before.
The first World Cup I remember properly was USA94. I have very, very vague memories of Mexico 86 but I was only 4 or 5, so not much of it has stuck with me, I remember bits of 1990 in Italy and I remember the 94 World Cup perfectly. That was the first tournament that really stands out for me; I was 13 and remember it perfectly - especially Spain getting knocked out by Italy and Tassoti breaking Luis Enrique's nose with an elbow in the penalty area. The image of Luis Enrique with blood everywhere was a powerful one and looking back, it's strange now to think that I am going to be playing in a world cup. I'm very conscious of the fact that it only happens every four years and that it's the greatest event in the world, with the best teams and the best players; it's an opportunity to test yourself and see how good you really are, to measure yourself against the greatest players. I'm looking forward to it immensely. I wouldn’t like to make a prediction about how far Spain will go, because I really to think we have to take it a step at a time and we don’t have an objective as such, but I think football fans should have faith in us. 10 mai Xabi Alonso - May, 10th 2006The fact that we are building up to our second final in two years inevitably brings back memories of last season's Champions League final against Milan - and, especially, what our victory meant to everyone at the club and to all the fans. It was incredible. It's hard to describe, really. To win my first title as a professional in my first season with Liverpool was incredible. I felt so proud and so happy and I felt like I wanted to share it with everyone - my family, my friends, my team-mates and everyone who supported us.
The bus tour round the city was absolutely incredible. It felt like there wasn't a single person indoors; it was as if the entire city had come out to see us - and a few more cities too! As you looked out from the top deck, you couldn’t see any pavement or road anywhere; everywhere was completely jam-packed. Not just in the centre of the city but everywhere we went. They said more than a million people had come out to see us and it was just amazing. To see people's commitment to the club, their dedication and passion, was really special. When we went past there was this constant noise of cheering and whistles and songs. That experience confirmed that being a Liverpool player is special - and very different to Spain. In Spain, the fans tend to get on the player's backs and boo them a lot, whereas Liverpool's supports never do that; they always support you and encourage you. It was very special to be able to share our success with them last year. Hopefully, we can do the same again this time round. 4 mai Xabi Alonso - May, 4th 2006I'm not the kind of person who rushes to swap shirts at the end of a game but if I am playing against someone special then I will make an effort. For example, I've got shirts from Alan Shearer, Mauro Silva and Roy Keane at home, all of whom I think are fantastic players. I have also got Zinedine Zidane's shirt from when I played against Real Madrid for Real Sociedad. After we played them, he said some very nice things about the way I had played, which was an honour coming from him. His shirt is a very special memento and it was a shame to hear that he has decide to retire after the World Cup.
Over the last decade, Zidane is the player I have most enjoyed watching, because of the way he plays, the elegance of his football. He makes the difficult things look so easy, which is a real skill. Whenever I have played against him, it has been really hard; he has such wonderful ability, such grace. I have spoken to him a few times and he is a person of great elegance too, someone who deserves a huge amount of respect from everyone in the game. He's almost the prototype of the footballer's footballer. He's the kind of person you learn from and watching him play for Bordeaux, Juventus, Real Madrid and France has been an education and joy. 3 mai Xabi Alonso - May, 3rd 2006We're absolutely delighted to have reached the FA Cup final. That's two years in a row now that we have beaten them Chelsea in a major semi-final and, as I said in my blog last week, we were confident going into the game. We knew it would be tough but we genuinely believed that we could do it and almost everything went as anticipated. We struggled in the final minutes but up until then we played really well. We moved the ball around neatly, with patience and a lot of calmness, we had the bulk of the possession and felt really confident.
As he does before every game, Rafa Benítez had analysed them closely and explained their weak points to us. We knew that they would play quite narrow, without two wide men and we took advantage of that. We encouraged them to accumulate bodies in the middle, which made it very tough for those of us in there, but opened a lot of room to exploit on the wings. Harry Kewell and John Arne Riise got plenty of space and were very dangerous throughout. The plan worked perfectly.
Everyone's delighted because we're on course to fulfil the objective, which is to win something every year. But it's not done yet. People are talking as if beating Chelsea means we've won the cup already, when there is still a final to play in which anything can happen - as we know very well after Istanbul! Although we will start as favourites, we will pay West Ham the greatest of respect. Beating them in the league on Wednesday means nothing. We're very conscious of the fact that we haven't won anything yet. |
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