Kennedy: Confidence key to sealing it with a kick

May 21 2007 Chris Wright, Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL penalty hero Alan Kennedy reveals to Chris Wright the secret of staying cool under pressure

“But any pressure doesn’t matter, you just have to hit the target from 12 yards. Fortunately, whether I meant to put it in that corner or not I’m not sure, but just having the confidence that was the thing. There were a lot of players in my team, that didn’t have confidence in me. Taking a penalty – a full-back! But you saw what full-backs like Phil Neal and one or two others could do.”

Kennedy saw a similar conviction to triumph during Liverpool’s shoot-out victory over Chelsea in the semi-final at Anfield which booked their trip to Athens.

That single-minded ability to just focus on finding the target. He said: “I keep saying it is about confidence. It is within yourself and how you feel about the situation. Dirk Kuyt said going to take the final penalty (against Chelsea) he didn’t feel any pressure. And I was a little bit like that myself. Although people were looking at me thinking he’s never scored a penalty or taken one, why should he take one. But Joe Fagan, I think, found a confidence in me, in that I won’t let you down. You have to be confident taking any penalty. The likes of Phil Neal or any penalty taker, it is you against him (the keeper). If he guesses right and you don’t hit it right, he will save it and there are no second chances.

But I think Kuyt’s confidence showed that you can take penalties even against what people regard as the best goalkeeper in the Premiership, and maybe the world and still score them.

“Having the bottle of walking up there and not being distracted by anything. You can practice all you want, but it is about having that mental toughness of taking a penalty and scoring it on the day, you won’t do it.”

Kennedy, though, believes Liverpool will have enough about them to triumph this time. And will be mindful of what happened two years ago in Turkey to make sure they start the match well.

The 53-year-old said: “The one thing about Liverpool is that you can never underestimate about how good they are. I have seen some really, really good performances this season. And I know that if they produce the kind of form they are capable of then they can beat any team in the competition.

“You have to have a lot of respect for AC Milan and how good they are. People may say on paper they have got the better team. But certainly the performance against Chelsea and in the earlier rounds, Liverpool have been absolutely fantastic in the competition.

“I don’t know what it is, whether they change their game or raise their game. They have a mentality in the European games that they seem to thrive on it. If you look at the teams they have played and beat. Mentality- wise you can’t beat this Liverpool team.

He added: “I don’t see this game as being the thriller of Istanbul. Because I tell you now, if Liverpool are 3-0 down at half-time this time I don’t think they could recover now. We don’t want it to happen again being in a position where you have got to change things round, dig deep and get players to play. I think Liverpool have got to start from the first minute to the last. But I do think they will get it right.

“They have learned their lessons from Istanbul and I think the manager believes he has got a better and a stronger team now. And Liverpool have a habit, when they are the underdogs, of coming up trumps and get the result.

“I don’t see many goals in the game. It may go to extra-time, penalties. Both teams are so evenly-matched. Liverpool can beat AC Milan, no doubt. When AC Milan beat Manchester United they were cock-a-hoop about it. You look at the way their players react to it. Being those type of players that they are, they have a bit of, although I don’t want to use that word, arrogance, but they have something about them. They are good players and have a confidence about them in their ability. Technically they are better players than English players, but have they got the fight and the spirit?

“They didn’t have it two years ago and that’s why Liverpool got the result.”

Kennedy won’t be able to make it to the final. He is playing in a charity match in Puket. A German friend Henril Lorenz set up a trust fund to start an academy for the children of the region. Sadly he died six months ago and Kennedy will be playing in remembrance of his friend. But he will be watching events in Athens keenly.

And should the match go all the way he knows there are plenty in the Liverpool squad imbued with the confidence he instilled all those years ago in Rome.