The sun was shining and love poured down from every corner of Anfield – Steven Gerrard’s afternoon could not have been any better.
Then the football started.
Amid all the emotion of the Liverpool captain’s last home game, harsh reality cast a looming shadow.
Saturday's 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace was a reminder of what Liverpool will be missing and why Gerrard's final curtain call is perfectly timed for all concerned.
Liverpool fans have seen this match many times before over the past two decades: their team in desperate need of inspiration, in need of someone to grab the match by the scruff of the neck, someone to step up and be a hero.
That man, almost exclusively for the past 17 years, has been Gerrard, although it was always Gerrard at his best: the one from Istanbul 2005, Cardiff 2006, and many other acts of salvation at home and away during a remarkable career.
No one at Anfield on Saturday was under any illusions that this final version of “Captain Fantastic” retained those powers any more, and no one cared.
Not that those left behind by Gerrard did anything to ease the pain for a crowd that had to bite its tongue over the team’s dismal performance.
Liverpool must look to the future, because the present does not look too bright.
The football from the home team was insipid, yet the home crowd continually serenaded Gerrard and the rest of the team with a greatest hits song list.
There were the traditional chants of his passing prowess, renditions of Team of Carraghers, Fields of Anfield Road and, of course, You’ll Never Walk Alone.
Gerrard was pushed into a more advanced role in the second half, in the hope that he could pull a rabbit out of his hat one last time.
There were brief reminders of the old barnstorming runs, cheered by a crowd that was increasingly less enthused by the efforts of the rest of the team.
Ultimately, the only real contest here was the one taking place between Liverpool hearts and minds, between their romanticism and pragmatism, because the one on the pitch was won comprehensively by Crystal Palace.
Still, nothing was going to ruin the long goodbye.
Gerrard was showered with the kind of adulation the likes of Michael Owen could have had but spurned, that the likes of Raheem Sterling will never experience, or may even care to.
There has never been anyone quite like Gerrard and, with modern football as it is, there is unlikely to be anyone like him in the future.
The game, in truth, passed Gerrard by, as it did the rest of his teammates, and amid the melancholic celebrations, there surely must be a tinge of relief that this chapter in the club’s history is coming to a close.
Liverpool’s obvious failings will have to be addressed well before Gerrard gets his first suntan in Los Angeles.
But Saturday was no time to ponder and the Liverpool fans did Gerrard proud.
The final acts were desperately emotional.
There was a touching moment when what turned out to be Gerrard’s last shot at Anfield sailed high and wide into the Kop. Those behind the goal broke into “What the hell was that?”, a chant usually reserved for the wayward shooting of opposition strikers.
A wave from Gerrard and applause from the rest of the stadium showed that all had retained their humour to the last.
The crowd saved the best until the end, at the precise moment that Crystal Palace scored their injury-time penalty.
Starting at the Kop and rippling out across the stands, every Liverpool supporter stood and started singing Gerrard’s name.
“Steven Gerrard is our captain, Steven Gerrard is a red, Steven Gerrard plays for Liverpool, Scouser born and bred.”
It lasted until, and drowned out, the final whistle. Anfield had seen the last of, as one of the Kop banners said, its “greatest”.
Ian St John, Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush and Robbie Fowler – Liverpool have a long and, until now, uninterrupted line of heroes. None, though, have carried the club quite like Gerrard has done.
He might not have managed that coveted Premier League winner’s medal, but, as he disappeared into the setting Merseyside sun, he knew that he never walked alone.
Liverpool, meanwhile, for the first time in a generation, have been left leaderless and hero-less.
akhaled@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter at NatSportUAE
