Wind back six years, and it is hard to imagine anyone predicting that Jordan Henderson would one day captain Liverpool in a Champions League final. The midfielder, who was offered to Fulham a year after joining Liverpool, didn't have the easiest start to his Liverpool career, joining the club in a rough spell. However, he has worked and worked, and he is now one game away from being a champion of Europe.
Henderson, who has revealed to the 'Daily Mail' that, while watching the Champions League final between Juventus and AC Milan at Old Trafford in 2003, he told his father that he wanted to play in a European final one day, is now living the dream.
In one week's time, the 27-year-old will play the biggest game of his career, facing Luka Modric and Toni Kroos in midfield. His opponents are two of the best midfielders in the world, and all over the pitch Liverpool will have to compete with world class players. For Henderson, there's no denying that the Spanish side are the favourites..
"We’ll be the underdogs," the central midfielder stated, speaking to the English outlet. "But I know that if we can perform to the level we have been performing, then we can give them a right good game."
Liverpool have won the European trophy five times before, and although Henderson says that this history is useful, he called on his teammates to write their own story. "We can take inspiration from what the legends of this club have achieved," he said. "But this is about our history."
The Englishman revealed that he will be thinking of his parents when he steps out in Kiev, explaining the advice she once gave him. "My mam used to say: 'There’s always someone watching, no matter who you play. You have to perform every single time'," he said. "I have tried to do that since I was a kid."
"You have to try to be the best you can be every single day. That applies to everything in life. You have to try to be better every day as a person. You can always improve. You are going to make mistakes along the way but it is how you learn from them. I try to be the best person I can be for this team and for my family."