Liverpool Ladies midfielder Amanda da Costa talks about her Anfield debut, the Merseyside derby and winning at Emirates against Arsenal.
The best thing about playing for Liverpool, as I've quickly realised this season, is the magnitude of the club's worldwide profile.
My family has always been incredibly supportive and followed me everywhere I've been to play football. Even my friends who know nothing about the game know who Liverpool is and what the club is all about.
Last week, I made my debut at Anfield for our FA Cup semifinal against Arsenal Ladies and my friends and family were absolutely ecstatic for me.
Unfortunately, the game didn't go as well as we had hoped, but having my family and friends follow and support our team all the way from America meant a lot to me. It speaks volumes to how strong the Liverpool FC brand is, and how many supporters all across the globe this club has.
As any Reds fan will tell you, Anfield is a special place.
Getting the chance to play there in front of our supporters in the Kop was truly something I will never forget. Since being integrated into the club, the Ladies are now even more a piece of the Liverpool FC fabric than we were when the club first accepted us.
On the day of the Arsenal match, my feelings before the game were similar to the same feelings I have before any game. The venue was more grand and the history richer, but it was about a Cup semifinal and it was important to keep my focus on the game - and not the occasion.
Preparing before the game in the famous home locker room and being well aware of the seat I was sitting in as I laced up my boots, sparked some feelings of excitement; if anything I think being in that environment made me more focused than I already was. In my career thus far, I have had the opportunity to play in a few amazing stadiums all around the world. Given my new connection with Liverpool FC, playing in Anfield will rank highly.
The extra thrill of touching the "This is Anfield" sign before we walked through the tunnel to take our places on the pitch was truly remarkable. We drew in a good crowd on the night, but as a group we didn't get the result we wanted and that was disappointing for us.
Before Liverpool's win at Fulham - and Danny Sturridge's hat-trick - of course we had the derby at Anfield.
I was fortunate enough to experience my first derby upon arriving here in Liverpool, when the Ladies took on Everton in a group stage match for the Continental Cup. The buzz leading up to our game was tremendous and it was fun to see the banter bounce around on the different social media and around town as well. The buzz for the men's derby was 10 times greater than what I had initially experienced myself.
The entire town was a blur of red and blue, fans for different sides sporting their scarves and jerseys as the build-up to the big match escalated all the way up until kick off. I watched the match with a few teammates inside of a packed warehouse at Camp and Furnace in Liverpool, which broadcasted the game on a huge projector screen.
Of course, this week we're all buzzing after getting our revenge on Arsenal at Emirates stadium. 4-0 was a fantastic result and to grab two myself was very satisfying after the Cup heartbreak. To win so emphatically - and at one of the title favourites - really has us all excited about the potential of this Liverpool team. Check out our performance below:
Follow Amanda: @ADacosta13.
