Even This Might Not Ruin Pepe Reina's Day

Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina had a big hand in sending his squad through to the Champions League Final yesterday in 'Pool's shootout victory over Chelsea. Reina had numerous stops during the game and saved two of Chelsea's PKs during the shootout. It was truly a great performance. Unfortunately for him, his whereabouts at the time of the match were known by every criminal in England and one of them decided to burgle his home in Liverpool. (As an aside, the word burgle is simultaneously awesomely funny and a bit revolting, if you ask me. Burgle sounds like the proper name of a burp with substance.)

After what was probably a right and proper celebration after the Reds victory, Reina discovered his home had been violated.

He returned from the celebrations at 12.45am to find that his home in Woolton, Liverpool, had been ransacked.

Jewellery, a Bang and Olufsen entertainment system, personal documents and a grey Porsche Cayenne with Spanish number plates were taken.

The Porsche was found burnt out in the West Derby area of Liverpool at 6.30am, according to Merseyside Police.

Luckily, nobody was home, although Reina may have lost some personal documents, and his insurance should cover his losses. In the past couple of years, this sort of activity has been common in England, especially for Liverpool players. Former starting keeper Jerzy Dudek, Peter Crouch and yesterday's goal scorer Daniel Agger have all had their homes burglarized. Even Manchester United's Wayne Rooney has fallen victim to the Scouser criminals as his parent's Liverpool home was broken into while he was still living there.

I've wondered why this hasn't happened in the US more often. Well-paid athletes' schedules are well known and easily obtained, which would make them easy targets. Maybe American criminals have a bit of respect for the athletes, or maybe they are just too stupid to grasp this concept. My money is on the latter.