Winning the European Cup meant that Liverpool could also hâve a crack at the World Club Championship. It was a competition Liverpool had shunned in the past, following the previous trau-matic experiences of Glasgow Celtic and Manchester United, when, in the 1960s, vicious brawls and red cards had marred what should hâve been prestigious and exciting fixtures between the European champions and the champions of South America. In those days, the World Club Championship was contested on a two leg, home-and-away basis, but in order to alleviate a fixture logjam, and because of the reluctance of European teams to play in South America, it was agreed to contest the game on neutral territory, and Tokyo was selected to host the game. Japan had its attractions, especially with regard to the sponsors, who were prepared to put up the money, but it meant that supporters of both clubs were effectively restricted to watching the encounter on television.
The prospect of seeing the Brazilians at Anfield would certainly have been one to relish, but it was not to be. With their Saturday league fixture postponed, Liverpool set off for a trip halfway around the world. It was hardly ideal preparation, and it showed. There was little time for overcoming the inevitable jet lag or for settling in. It meant that the players arrived in Japan, booked into the hôtel, went for a night's sleep, trained, played the game and then returned to Britain on the next available flight.The Reds had never faced a Brazilian side before, and Ramengo were not only the accomplished South American champions, but also one of the finest Brazilian teams of ail time. It was a line-up to make you drool. In attack was the greât Zico, and the equally talented Nunes, while Junior and Marinho patrolled the midfield and defence with a flair that almost smacked of arrogance. Liverpool were already well beiow their best when they arrived, physically tired and mentally fatigued. They were hovering in the middle of the first division, having won only six of their 16 league fixtures. They were strug-gling to find any form, and against Flamengo their deficiences were ruthlessly exposed. Flamengo opened the scoring in the 13th minute, when Zico's beautifully flighted pass dropped tantalis-ingly over Phil Thompson's head for Nunes to race on to and score. In the 32nd minute, the Brazilian champions made it 2-0, when Zico's powerful free kick on the edge of the area roared through a gaping hole in the defensive wall towards the Liverpool 'keeper, Bruce Grobbelaar did his best, but he could only parry the bail to Adilio, who applied the finishing touch. Finally, just before half-time, Zico sent Nunes clear and, with a precise shot from a narrow angle, the Brazilian put the game out of Liverpool's reach.
In the second half, Flamengo eased up, and the fight had effectively gone out of Liverpool, though Craig Johnston was Liverpool's most convincing forward. With Dalglish looking subdued and Souness overrun in the midfield, there was little chance of the Reds's ever wresting control of the game from the Brazilians. Johnston, with his acceleration down the flanks and his harrying of defenders, had shown the way for Liverpool to make progress, but none of his team-mates had followed his example. Liverpool were simply out-classed by Zico and his gifted colleagues. Bob Paisley claimed that he could not understand what had gone wrong: They never seen a Liverpool side that was so dull, so lacking in ideas and aggression, he remarked. Perhaps it was the arduous journey, or the dry bumpy pitch, or just a lack of form. Whatever the reason, Liverpool were given a lesson by the Brazilians in howto play football. The real problem was that Liverpool had tried to play the Brazilians at their own game, slowing the tempo down and stroking the bail around the field when they should hâve been challenging for every bail and running at the Brazilian defence, trying to rush them out of their composed play. Perhaps the lesson was finally learned. Liverpool returned to lose their next league game at home to Manchester City, but then set out on a pulsat-ing run that took them to the league title with only two games lost in the next 25.
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
No comments:
Post a Comment
NO LINKS ALLOWED