John Arne Riise makes shocking admissions from Miracle of Istanbul

John Arne Riise makes shocking admissions from Liverpool's Champions League win in 2005 in the Miracle of Istanbul.

• "Every day, I get asked the same question about Istanbul in 2005: what happened at half-time? What did Rafa [Benitez] say at half-time? Or what was I thinking at half-time? And I always give the same answer: I wanted to go home, basically."
• "This is a true story... I can remember standing in the tunnel, before the game, looking across at the AC Milan team and thinking to myself 'what the hell am I doing here?'"
• "Andriy Shevchenko's chances at the end of extra-time are something I do think about when I look back at that game. Quite simply, if he scores, it's game over."
• "How far off his line was Jerzy Dudek during those penalties?! He was three or four yards ahead of the line! Nowadays, we'd have lost that shootout, for sure... it was ridiculous!"
  

Every day, I get asked the same question about Istanbul in 2005: what happened at half-time? What did Rafa [Benitez] say at half-time? Or what was I thinking at half-time? And I always give the same answer: I wanted to go home, basically.  

I was ashamed of that first-half. We didn't play that bad, but 3-0 down after 45 minutes was really, really bad. It could've been 4-0 as well, as they had a goal disallowed. It could've been a disaster night for us, but this is why we love football.  

That break at half-time was probably the toughest mental test for me, because we were 3-0 down with 45 minutes to go in the biggest game of our lives. So may fans travelled over to support us, millions and millions of people were watching around the world, and we had to try and prepare ourselves to get through another 45 minutes! 

In individual sport, it would've probably been easier to deal with, because it's all on you; you can change your mentality - but in football, you need 10 other guys to do the same. You know, I might have been ready, but what if seven of the others weren't? We needed 11 players ready to go out and fight, and thankfully that's what we had. 

Some players are more vocal when things are going bad, while others like to just be within themselves. I knew I was an important member of that team, because I'd played in most of the games that season, and I had Djimi Traore playing behind me, who was a little bit younger and inexperienced. We tried to help each other, and get the team going. 

This is a true story... I can remember standing in the tunnel, before the game, looking across at the AC Milan team and thinking to myself 'what the hell am I doing here?' 

I was watching the back of the shirts as their team walked out next to us, and there was Kaka, Gattuso, Inzaghi, Maldini... and I'm just thinking, what am I doing here? What is Riise doing here? 

Really, that's what I was thinking before the game started. But, at the same time, we knew we deserved to be there. We knew, player by player, they were better than us. But we made that final because we were a team, and so in the game - even though Stevie G probably covered the work of nine players by himself in that second-half, we knew we had to become a team again - because that was how we were going to win that game. 

Andriy Shevchenko's chances at the end of extra-time are something I do think about when I look back at that game. Quite simply, if he scores, it's game over. We knew, even when we got to 3-3, we had to calm down. If we would've carried on going the same way, with that high energy and momentum, and they scored to make it 4-3 to them, we'd have been dead.  

We got back to 3-3 and then it was time to take a breather. But, then, those two chances came to Shevchenko... and sometimes you realise some things are just meant to be. I think this game, with everything that happened, the ups and the downs, was just meant to be, for us to win it. I don't think you'll ever see that kind of result again; the dominance from them in the first half, the total turnaround inside six minutes in the second-half, the chances they missed at the end, and us winning the shootout... I don't think you'll see that kind of game again for many, many years.

We had a free-kick at the very end of extra-time which I knew was going to be rolled across to me and, to be honest, I was thinking this could be a moment here that I'll never, ever forget. Selfishly, I thought I was going to be the hero. This was the time, this was the moment, to do something special. It didn't happen that way in the end, and I even missed a penalty in the shootout, but I've always said I'd rather miss and we win, than score and we lose, so while I'm really disappointed in myself for missing the penalty... standing there at the end, with the trophy, makes it a lot easier to forget!

I was watching highlights of the penalty shootout against AC Milan on social media a couple of weeks ago and, honestly... how far off his line was Jerzy Dudek during those penalties?! He was three or four yards ahead of the line! Nowadays, we'd have lost that shootout, for sure... it was ridiculous!  

The linesman, on the side, as well... what was his job?!  

It was crazy... we didn't even know how bad it was at the time, because obviously we were all stood on the halfway line, but I remember talking about it at breakfast the next day, and Jerzy was just laughing, because he knew he did wrong... every single time!

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