HAD Steven Gerrard not been blessed with the kind of skills the rest of us can only dream of he would have been involved in the smad scramble for tickets for Athens.
The fact that the boyhood Red is guaranteed his place in the Olympic Stadium does not mean he isn't aware of the emotional torture thousands of his fellow Liverpudlians are going through as they try everything they can to get their hands on a ticket for the big game.
I spoke to Steven yesterday and one of the first things he told me was he is gutted for those who have missed out on a ticket.

He said: "Being a local lad and a Liverpool fan I really feel for those supporters who can't get their hands on tickets because I know how much it means to them."
Unfortunately, being a local lad also means Gerrard has been inundated with requests for tickets from friends and family so there's no point in asking him if he's got any spares.
Despite his disappointment that some of Liverpool's most loyal fans will not be in Athens, the Liverpool skipper is confident that those who do make the trip will live up to their tag of being the 12th man.
He said: "What I do know as a player is when we go over to Athens we will have a slight advantage over Milan because I know our support will out-support theirs by miles and miles.
"And I know I'm biased saying this but we have got the best supporters in the world."
One thing Gerrard won't be doing when he takes to the pitch in Athens is touching the European Cup.
Milan's Gennaro Gattuso famously did just that in Istanbul two years ago, causing those who are superstitious to accuse him of jinxing the Italians.
Gerrard said: "I'm not very superstitious but we will be having a good chat in the changing rooms before the game to make sure no one touches the trophy because people do say it's bad luck and you don't want any excuses after the game.
"But I don't think it's about superstition. It's about two fantastic teams who are both after one big, massive piece of silverware and whoever plays the best on the night will win it."

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