Liverpool friendly boils over into mass brawl

Discussion in 'Liverpool FC' started by CelticKing, Aug 5, 2007.

  1. CelticKing

    CelticKing The Green Monster

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    <h1>Liverpool friendly boils over into mass brawl</h1>

    Liverpool's pre-season campaign ended amid astonishing scenes in Rotterdam as six of their players were booked and </p><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" width="1" height="1" align="right"><tbody><tr><td> <!-- new key = 364+story;kvpagetype=story;kvcc=NA;kvsection=england;kvclub=364;kvaid=450619;grp
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    skipper Steven Gerrard was fortunate not to be sent off. The final match of the Port of Rotterdam tournament was</p>

    anything but a friendly as Liverpool fought back from a goal down for Gerrard to grab a second-half equaliser. But the game </p>

    in a packed De Kuip stadium had been simmering for a while, with young winger Royston Drenthe in the thick of the trouble. </p>

    His late tackle on Gerrard in the dying minutes caused uproar with players from both sides converging in a angry melee, </p>

    and Gerrard was seen to shove Theo Lucius. The England midfielder could easily have seen a red card, but the game eventually </p>

    produced a surprising nine cautions and a late penalty save by Jose Reina. The fact that the result left Porto as the competition </p>

    winners meant little as the tempers of Feyenoord and Liverpool players boiled over. Manager Rafael Benitez will have been </p>

    disappointed with Liverpool's failure to create a glut chances, but happy he got his players out of Holland without injuries or </p>

    suspensions. Benitez fielded a completely different team to the one that comfortably beat Shanghai on Friday, this one much </p>

    closer to his ideas for the league opener at Aston Villa on Saturday. Only Alvaro Arbeloa, Andriy Voronin and Harry Kewell from </p>

    the opening XI are unlikely to play at Villa Park. And Liverpool started with poise, control and dominance. But they could not </p>

    turn possession into goals. Gerrard had a volley over and saw another effort glide wide after a surge into the box, while </p>

    John Arne Riise was also wide with a drive. On 15 minutes, Dirk Kuyt, back in front of the Feyenoord fans he served so well </p>

    before his move to Anfield, saw a fierce drive crash against the bar, giving Egyptian keeper Sheriff Ekramy no chance. It </p>

    bounced down, seemingly over the line, but with no official near enough to award the goal play went on. And a minute from </p>

    the break Liverpool's wastefulness was punished when Andwele Slory got in behind Riise on the right and saw his shot cannon </p>

    back off a post for Drenthe to score. The flying winger, a key member of Holland's European Under-21 Championships title </p>

    winners this summer, gave Liverpool plenty of problems, Arbeloa being booked for one desperate tug on the youngster. </p>

    Liverpool's frustrations boiled over after the break with both Kewell and Jermaine Pennant also booked. Not surprisingly, </p>

    Kewell was replaced by Ryan Babel soon after. Pennant was next off on 64 minutes, Fernando Torres taking over. And with </p>

    Liverpool looking laboured and short of ideas against a deep defence, it was Gerrard who came to the rescue on 72 minutes. </p>

    He strode past two men on the right of the box and drilled an angled shot past Ekramy. Babel and Xabi Alonso both had good </p>

    efforts wide before Yossi Benayoun replaced Voronin. But Feyenoord continued to be competitive, and it was Gerrard who had </p>

    to kick off the line from Hofs, before Alonso and Drenthe were booked for squaring up. Javier Mascherano soon replaced the </p>

    Spanish midfielder. There was more drama when Feyenoord were awarded a penalty for a supposed hand-ball against Arbeloa, </p>

    the ball in fact striking his head following a Drenthe cross. But Reina's famed penalty-saving ability saw him turn away Danny </p>

    Buijs' effort. But worse was to follow when Drenthe caught Gerrard with a late tackle. All hell broke loose, and Gerrard was booked </p>

    for pushing Theo Lucius in the fracas. He was instantly withdrawn with Mohamed Sissoko coming on in the final seconds.</p>

    </p>
     
  2. Hudge

    Hudge Active Member

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    It was hardly a mass brawl but it was still awesome.
     
  3. HeadCase

    HeadCase Global *********

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    As Hudge says it was hardly a brawl. Seen worse, much worse</p>
     
  4. Hudge

    Hudge Active Member

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    Carling cup final, Champions League QF (i think)Inter and some other team, World Cup QF (I think)Argentinians got pissed off at losing and attacked all the Germans.
     

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