Jamie Carragher’s wife felt ’embarrassed’ after Liverpool Champions League win

The Liverpool defender became a club hero after the Reds won the European Cup in stunning fashion back in 2005

The wife of Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher said she felt “embarrassed” after the Reds icon’s fame ballooned following the club’s famous Champions League victory in May 2005 as she struggled with the extra attention it brought upon their lives. Liverpool saw off an AC Milan side filled with superstars as they came from 3-0 down to win the tie on penalties.

Then managed by Rafael Benitez, the Anfield outfit clinched their fifth European Cup against Carlo Ancelotti’s side. Carragher’s wife, Nicola, told The Telegraph how her husband’s new-found level of fame after the victory meant all eyes were on them, and their children, James and Mia, wherever they went.

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“When the kids were little, Liverpool won the Champions League and James was made player of the year. He was a very recognisable face and that did affect me a bit,” she admitted.

“If we were out in public I was always worried that people were looking at us. I felt shy, embarrassed. I remember being in a restaurant and he was messing about with the kids, pulling faces, hiding under the table, making a right fool of himself.”

However, regardless of any media intrusion, Nicola claimed the Sky Sports pundit’s primary concern is his family. She said: “As long as the kids were happy, he didn’t care what anybody thought.”

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“What I can tell you is he is without doubt the best dad in the world,” she added. “Yes, there have been times when he has done things he regrets, but so have I. If the world focused on every stupid thing that you did or I did, we’d be in trouble.”

The game dubbed as ‘the miracle of Istanbul‘ was the major turning point for several Liverpool players at the time. While many had basked in the glory of the treble-winning season of 2001, where the Reds picked up the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup, winning the Champions League in such dramatic fashion thrust the likes of Carragher into the limelight like never before.

Speaking to The Mirror in 2020 Carragher opened up on how Liverpool’s fifth European Cup triumph changed his life. “It’s funny how those great European triumphs are known by the city where they took place. As a kid, for me it was Rotterdam, with Everton. Rome ’77. [Manchester] United have Barcelona… Not ‘the Bayern game,’ but ­Barcelona,” he said.

“Istanbul, though. It’s somehow even more powerful. It’s our city and our club. Just the word makes you feel lucky to have been part of it. An honour and a ­privilege.

“It’s the one moment in my career I’d love to go back to. That moment of realisation, and then release. I ran towards Jerzy [Ex-Liverpool goalkeeper, Dudek] and was the first one there. But there was no way I could stop and hug someone. I needed to keep running, jumping, ­shouting, screaming.

“I couldn’t have bottled that up. It was just an energy rush that had to come out. I carried on around the track, couldn’t have stood still with the players, had to get involved in the crowd. It’s just a pity I didn’t get that energy in the first half.”

Elaborating on how the game brought the club closer to the fans, he said: “We had a great night in the hotel after the game, with the lads, the chairman and the manager giving speeches. But when we got back to Liverpool for the homecoming was the real celebration.

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“The final was on a Wednesday and I kept drinking until the Sunday night! I was with people back home who couldn’t make it to the game but still had so many stories, and I’m probably more interested in how they felt.

“I think it’s one of those games – it’s for the people of the city, not the players. The whole city had a glow to it, a bounce in the step for six months.”

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