- Dylan O'Connell
- Sat, May 28 2022
Back in 2015, a team of Liverpool youngsters travelled to Ireland for a small tour of the country. Included in their trip was a friendly with Cork City FC at Turner’s Cross.
The talk surrounding the game was about Caoimhín Kelleher, who just joined the club from Ringmahon Rangers.
The goalkeeper started in the second half and kept a clean sheet against a second string Cork City team.
While local press lauded the shot stopper’s performance, one name which escaped the limelight was Trent Alexander Arnold.
The Scouser started the second half alongside Kelleher and he commanded the play in front of 4,000 fans.
Seven years later and he is arguably the best in the world at what he does; attacking and defending from his position at right back.
Alexander Arnold is now 23-years-old and he has won every major trophy in world club football; including the Premier League and Champions League.
On Saturday night he will step out and contest his third European Cup final, against Real Madrid at the Stade de France.
His journey; from the academy to first team, has grounded him as a footballer and person.
After achieving so much at a young age, Alexander Arnold remains the boy from Liverpool who dreamed of putting on that famous red jersey.
“Yeah, I mean, to even be in with a chance of winning a second Champions League title at this young age is special for me, I think, as it is for everyone,” he explained.
“There's been many, many legends of the game that haven't had these opportunities, so to be here is a privilege for me, but I think it goes without saying we’ve got a world-class opponent standing in our way on Saturday as a team, so we need to be all at it to even be close to lifting that trophy again.”
At 23-years-old the full-back has played in every major tournament in world club football. In 2019 he won the Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and Club World Cup. This preceded Liverpool winning the Premier League for the first time in 2020. This season he won the EFL Cup and the FA Cup, and one point denied his side another English top flight title.
While he’s used to big games and big moments, he knows that the Champions League final is different.
“I think you can try your best to say it’s just another big game, but everything that comes around it, you know, the press conferences, the media days, training on the pitch and stuff like that,” he explained.
“It's something that we don’t do regularly, so there's things different about the game, but I think we embrace these occasions. These are the ones, you know, when you’re working hard behind the scenes, these are the occasions that are in your mind and that's what makes you go that step further.
“So, for us, no, we're excited to be here. I think we feel like we deserve to be here. We haven’t got here through luck. We've had a tough run. We had an incredibly tough group stage, and we've been able to see off all our opponents so far. But, like I said before, there's one more game; last game of the season for us as a team and as a club. It's the special game, it's the one that everyone wants to play in, it's the special competition, it's the game of the season. So, to be here is good, but to win it would be even better.
With all of this playing on his mind, Trent-Alexander is more than ready to face Real Madrid at the Stade de France on Saturday night.
“The whole occasion I’m looking forward to,” he explained.
“I think when you’re playing against Real Madrid, you expect to come up against world-class players, which I think every single one of us will be doing tomorrow.
There will be battles all over the pitch. We’ve got a game plan, we’ve got our plans around how we're going to deal with all the threats that they pose.
“As for Vinicius himself, he’s an outstanding player and he’s shown that this season, especially with his goals, assists and his threats. He's an exciting player to watch but I think tomorrow we understand as a team we’ve got a job to do as individuals, as a collective, [and] as a group to go out there and win. The individual battles will be a part of that, but it's a team game and the team wins at the end of the day.”
