DAVID Livermore said Roy Keane was left without a “bead of sweat” in Manchester United’s 3-0 win over Millwall in the 2004 FA Cup Final.
The 20th anniversary of the game was last week with Livermore, who made 302 appearances for the Lions, sat in midfield that day alongside player-manager Dennis Wise.
The Lions had pulled off a surprise by getting to the final at all and headed to Cardiff looking to engineer one of the biggest shocks in FA Cup history.
After they initially managed to frustrate Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, Cristiano Ronaldo broke the deadlock just before half-time before two goals by Ruud van Nistelrooy in the second half killed the game.
Livermore, who returned to his post as assistant manager to Neil Harris in February, admits that the gulf in quality was too much to handle.
He told the Wall Talk podcast: “The semi-final was our final. We went to the Millennium Stadium wanting to win, of course we did, but we knew on the day – at the back of your head, you don’t want to admit it – but you know you’re going to have your best game ever and they’re going to have to have their worst game ever.”
Asked if United had to get out of second gear, Livermore said: “In my opinion, no. Roy Keane didn’t have a bead of sweat on him.
“You can feel the levels. We’re sort of hanging on and they’re in second gear. We were unfortunate as we went there and only had one centre forward at the time after big Danny Dichio got sent off in the build-up to the final.
“So we had to go one up top with the gaffer [Harris] leading the line. I think it was 44 minutes [before they scored]… we started to frustrate them. You could sense they were getting frustrated. If we could have made it to half-time at 0-0 who knows. But then a young Cristiano Ronaldo scored before half-time.
“He was so good, it was a joke. He was 18 at the time and he was half the player he ended up being and was levels and levels above everyone else on the pitch.”
The day wasn’t all bad for Livermore though as he managed to fend off team-mate Paul Ifill in the fight for Keane’s shirt after the game.
He added: “I’ve got his shirt at home. Me and Paul Ifill both went up to Roy Keane after the game and asked for his shirt and he promised it to both of us.
“I ended up getting it, and I got Nicky Butt’s. The good thing was that I flipped a coin for it and I won so it’s got a place at home.”
