Liverpool iron-man Skrtel has not missed a minute this season thanks to his guiding principle - veni, vidi, vici



By Joe Bernstein for the Daily Mail

Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel has lived up to the slogan tattooed across his ribs by not missing a single minute of Premier League action this season.

'Veni, vidi, vici' - Latin for I came, I saw, I conquered - is Skrtel's guiding principle and in a difficult season for Liverpool, he has been a pillar of strength.

Up for the challenge: Martin Skrtel is one of only two outfield players to have played every minute

He is one of just two outfield players - Everton's Leighton Baines is the other - to have played every minute of every league game: 3,330 going into today's final round of matches.

'I'm proud of the achievement,' says Skrtel, 26. 'But somebody has to stop Baines before Sunday's game so I am the only one!'

It is no surprise to those who know the shaven-headed Slovakian that he has not fallen victim to injury, fatigue, poor form or squad rotation.

The centre-half helped Liverpool overcome a difficult start under Roy Hodgson to mount a European challenge and they will qualify for the Europa League if their result at Aston Villa betters Tottenham's at home to Birmingham.

Off the pitch, Skrtel is pleasant and benign. But once he crosses the white line, he would do anything to help his team. The biggest threat to his ever-present record has been eight bookings but he avoided a ban.

'My job is to protect the goal, with blocks, tackles, whatever it takes,' he says. 'If you have to do a hard tackle to help your team, you don't think about it.

'Veni, vidi, vici is my philosophy. I liked it the first time I read it, what it means. You have to fight and go for victory. It is nice.'

Nothing gets past him: Martin Skrtel even tackled a streaker at Anfield

Liverpool fans have turned Skrtel into a cult figure and he seems to relish it. His shaven-head look was adopted at his previous club, Zenit St Petersburg, and after getting his first tattoo at 16 - 'I didn't tell my Mum' - his whole body is now adorned with artwork.

'I had "veni, vidi, vici" tattooed last season after I broke my foot. I went back to Slovakia and had the tattoo while I was watching Liverpool play Manchester United on the TV.

'It wasn't easy for the tattooist because I kept trying to jump up and down all the time, particularly when Torres scored [United won 2-1]. He kept holding me down, he did a good job to finish it.'

Yet after his debut against nonleague Havant & Waterlooville in 2008, Skrtel feared his Anfield career might be over. Liverpool twice fell behind before winning 5-2 and he admits: 'I was very nervous and didn't play well at all. I was worried Rafa Benitez might leave me out. I thought he would. It was important for my confidence that he kept me in for the next game against Sunderland, and I played a lot better.'

He has played alongside four different partners in defence this season but he has a soft spot for vice-captain Jamie Carragher. 'English football was not easy at the start for me because of the pace of the game. But Carra and Sami Hyypia kept talking to me, teaching me.

' He is just 90 minutes away from reaching his special achievement and a few aches and strains from nine months of football will not stop him being at Villa Park.

'Small injuries are part of football. If the pain is not really big, and you can run, you can still play,' he says sternly. You would not argue with him.





