• I WROTE those words with Frank Lampard as we were completing his autobiography just after Englands exit from the 2006 World Cup.

They have never been more poignant than this week.

On Wednesday night, he showed extraordinary courage to step up and take the extra-time penalty against Liverpool which helped put Chelsea into the Champions League final.

Today, he will join his father, sisters and family and bury his mother. Pat Lampard died of pneumonia last Thursday, aged 58. Her passing has left a huge gap in a family with football at its very heart.

Husband Frank snr supported their son at Stamford Bridge, as he has at every match the midfield star has played for Chelsea since signing in June 2001.

Pat Lampard travelled home and away to most of the games as well. Her absence from the semi-final, second leg cut deepest when Frank jnr turned to the stand to dedicate his goal to his parents and saw only one.

Moments in sport which c****ine fierce competition and personal tragedy are rare. That is why everyone inside the ground drew a sharp breath when they saw Lampard collect the ball after Italian referee Roberto Rosetti awarded the 98th-minute spot-kick.

His mums illness became news because of his public profile. Her death meant even an emotion as private as mourning must be in the spotlight.

On Tuesday night, Lampard decided he would NOT face Liverpool. But after much soul-searching, he then told Blues boss Avram Grant at 11.30 on the morning of the game that he had changed his mind.

Having committed himself to his team-mates, there was no way he would then turn his back on his responsibilities.

The fear and anxiety that filled the stadium around him never struck Lampard. Penalties are his duty.

Not one team-mate flinched as he placed the ball on the spot. Not even Michael Ballack, who scored a vital one against Manchester United in Lampards absence last weekend.

Yet the emotion released as the ball hit the net was the start of the sadness for him.

Job done, he could start to grieve properly. And while everyone else danced and celebrated at the final whistle, he walked around in front of each stand applauding the fans for the magnificent support they had shown him.

There was no thought of the elation he had given them, only what he has now lost.

A couple of years ago, I had a long chat with Pat Lampard about her son. She told me that when he was 14, he came home after a match where his team had been beaten and in which he had not played well.

The doting mum tried to bring him round without success. She said that, after a while, she realised it was not defeat which upset him most.

It was the thought he had let down his family and team-mates by performing badly.

She smiled as she remembered her pride that her son valued other people more than his own or his teams success.

That is why the five steps Frank took before beating Pepe Reina to deliver Chelsea towards one of the most historic moments in their history look easy compared to the journey he must make today.

As Blues keeper Petr Cech summed up: He just showed what a love for the game he has. This was the best way to honour his mum. She would have loved to see him in the final. Hes a really brave lad.

That he is. But much more important, he is a good son.

Harry Redknapp watched proudly at home with wife Sandra, Pats sister, as his nephew slotted in the vital penalty.

The Portsmouth manager said: Frank showed what he always has, great courage. He had amazing character to pick a ball up and take that penalty under such pressure.

Anyone can take a penalty when you are two or three-up. But you are talking about the semi-final of the Champions League at 1-1. The self-belief he has separates good players from ordinary players.

I was praying he would score but you knew he would. It was great for him and we are all very proud of him.