KEY POINTS:
He started the game, as many have and will continue to do so under Rafa Benitez's management, from the bench. Thirty-eight minutes is all Anfield saw of him that day in late August.
There was a mighty hurrah at the arrival of the blond striker, the applause rumbling
down the Kop like thunder.
Dirk Kuyt's signing had been a long time coming since he was first associated with Liverpool back in 2004. Immediately, he was recognised as a kindred spirit, and not least because of the now-familiar applause from him to them at the final whistle. He is invariably the last man to leave the field, and the accord between player and the faithful is mutual.
"The first moment I came in, against West Ham, the crowd were incredible," recalls Dirk the Dynamo, the striker who is forever recharging the batteries of those around him, let alone the spectators, with his energy and enthusiasm.
"It was my first match, but I felt like I'd played here for years. They accepted me immediately. They have a lot of respect for me and of course I have a lot of respect for them.
"I'm that kind of player. With all my former clubs, I had a special relationship with the crowd. I like that kind of relationship. Everyone saw the [Champions' League] Chelsea game, and it's partly because of them that we reached the final. Incredible."
This was the club he had long supported from afar. And yet, there was an awful darkness on the horizon of a sunlit sky that day.
His father, who is also called Dirk, had watched that first game before returning to Holland to undergo surgery for lung cancer, although the operation was actually delayed to allow Kuyt snr to present his son with the Dutch Player of the Year award.
The emotions overflowed that day. Understandably so.
Father had watched son play from a five-year-old on the beach at Katwijk, a fishing village on Holland's North Sea coast, where he grew up.
He had witnessed his progress from the local club, Quick Boys, the biggest amateur side in Holland, to his five seasons at FC Utrecht, followed by three at Feyenoord, during which he scored 20, 29 and 22 goals, and gained the first of his 29 Holland caps.
And finally, he experienced pride at his son's £9 million ($24.3 million) move to Liverpool 12 months ago.
This is no city boy from the mean straat of Rotterdam.
His father, a fisherman, like many in his village, spent many days away at sea. His son could have followed him aboard the fishing boats, and was offered an apprenticeship, but turned it down because he did not want to miss out on midweek football training.
Few would have foreseen that he would become such a prodigious trawler of goals. Kuyt snr won't be in Athens for Thursday's Champions' League final.
"It would be too much for him," says his son. "He will watch the game here, at my house, and hopefully we can bring the Cup home, so he can celebrate with us."
He adds: "The worst moment was signing for Liverpool in the weeks before my dad was due to have his big operation. That was really hard. My dad loves football. He watched every game I played in Holland.
"He was also a fan of the Premier League, so he's also really proud that I'm here and he can watch me when he's here, or on the telly.
"It's been very difficult. England and Holland may not be that far apart as countries, but when your dad is sick, the difference seems really big. When I was playing for Feyenoord, I saw him more or less every day. Today, it's different, but I'm pleased, because he comes to every home game and he stays the weekend. I can see him a lot."
Kuyt and his Liverpool squad are now at a warm-weather camp in Spain.
Presumably it will not become quite so heated as the club's break in Portugal before the game against Barcelona, when Craig Bellamy allegedly swung a golf club at John Arne Riise after the Norwegian had refused to take part in a karaoke competition.
"We are a close team, and I think we are even closer after that incident," says Kuyt.
"It's like a marriage. Sometimes you struggle a bit. But we're all really good with each other. We can feel it from the inside. I'm sure you can see it from the outside. If you see John Arne Riise and Bellamy, they are fine. They have no problems. But I don't think there'll be a karaoke session this time ... "
Kuyt is regarded as more the marriage guidance counsellor; a healer of wounds within the team. Indeed, he is, by every account, an impressive character.
Still only 26, he and his wife Gertrude have established a foundation to support children in Dutch inner cities, and in Brazil, Nepal and Ghana.
But it is devotion to the team, and his vigour within it, that has endeared him so readily to the Kop. It will require considerably more from the Dutchman, of course, before he enjoys the apotheosis of a Robbie Fowler.
"He's one of the greatest strikers Liverpool's ever had and I have learned a lot from him as a footballer, but also as a human being," says Kuyt of the former England striker.
"He's been really important for me in this first year. Just to play a few games with him, I have learned a lot."
Kuyt's performance in the home leg of the semifinal against Chelsea epitomised his own qualities. He was a man possessed. It was exhausting merely to witness. 'I was always that kind of person, with a lot of energy," says Kuyt. "I just try to do what I think is best for the team.
"And for me, I know I'm a striker and everybody is counting my goals every week [he concluded the season with 12 League strikes and one FA Cup goal, but none in the Champions' League], but for me that is not the most important thing.
"If it is possible I want to score a lot of goals, but for me the important thing is just winning the game."
Liverpool's 2005 European triumph remains vivid in his mind. Kuyt was with the Dutch team, preparing for an international, when Benitez's side were undergoing their recovery.
"It was one of the craziest finals I have ever seen. Something like that will never happen again. But at the end, Liverpool deserved to win. It was unbelievable, their comeback."
And in two days' time? "A club like this should win a trophy a year, so I'll be satisfied if we win the Champions' League," he says. "Next season, in the League, I think we can rival Chelsea and Manchester United - if we get off to a better start."
He talks the talk that the supporters like to hear. In Athens on Thursday, if Liverpool are blessed with his inspirational presence, you don't doubt that they can walk the walk.
Dirk Kuyt
* Position: Striker
* Born: July 22, 1980
* Height: 1.82m
* Weight: 83kg
* 1st team games: 47
* 1st team goals: 13
* International caps: 29
* International goals: 5
* Former clubs: FC Utrecht, Feyenoord
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