grenchen, liverpool fc - sv werder bremen (part 3)...
This match was a truly special one for quite a lot of reasons.
1. It was Fernando Torres' and Ryan Babel's first performance in Liverpool's jersey.
2. Andriy Voronin scored his first two goals for Liverpool.
3. Carlos Alberto played his first match in Werder Bremen's jersey.
Also, I guess it only happens once in a lifetime that you get to watch two world-famous teams play each other in a stadium like this, where the stands are so close to the pitch and there are no fences. Standing there with the players only a few feet away from me, I couldn't believe that one of those teams played this year's Champions League final and the other team finished the German league as third. It felt like watching two fourth division clubs who, by chance, happen to play great football. Instead, there were the big names, and I can't even begin to describe how it felt to see them from such a short distance. I mean, Steven Gerrard is a fucking hero for Liverpool, and he walked around RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. And Voronin! I was at the Allianz Arena when he scored that incredible goal against Bayern München, the one that hit the crossbar and the right goalpost before it hit the net. From the terrace where I was sitting that afternoon, he was the size of a pen. In Grenchen, I could see his face! I still can't believe it, really! manuanya, theellibu and I already discussed the chance of the photos being empty, because it's so impossible to be allowed to take photos of those players from such a short distance. But football players aren't vampires - at least not Liverpool's players - and they're still on the photos after two days. ;)
Statistics: Liverpool FC 3-2 SV Werder Bremen
Liverpool FC: Carson - Riise (46. Arbeloa), Hyypiä (46. Carragher), Paletta (46.Agger), Finnan (46. Darby) - El Zhar (73. Babel), Gerrard (46.Sissoko), Hobbs (46. Xabi Alonso), Pennant (46. Benayoun) - Crouch (46. Kuyt), Voronin (63. Torres)
SV Werder Bremen: Wiese - Fritz (46. Vranjes), Baumann, Niemeyer, Schulz - Frings (46.Jensen), Alberto (58. Bischoff), Andreasen, Borowski (46. Wome) -Schindler (80. Löning), Rosenberg (46. Almeida)
Goals:
1:0 Voronin (4.), 1:1 Schindler (6.), 2:1 Riise (14.), 3:1 Voronin (61.), 3:2 Almeida (85.)
One goal by Almeida (71.) was annulled because of offside, but it was funny to watch how the Liverpool players stood there, waiting for the referee's whistle, and then Almeida scored, and the goal music played, and the Werder fans cheered, and the Liverpool players stormed to the referee and discussed the matter with him. XD It took ages until the match continued.
Referee: Daniel Wermelinger (Switzerland), did an okay job. He didn't whistle too often, didn't book too many players. The match was fair overall, though I didn't really like the foul of Gerrard against Carlos Alberto, and Stevie should have been booked for the kick. I wonder what he was thinking. Fortunately, Alberto didn't make a huge scene out of it, and the two didn't clash again.
The match was great - you wouldn't have thought that it was just a friendly during the preparation phase. High speed (especially the wing players), great tactical play (especially Pennant, who switched sides with El Zhar on occasion) and later Xabi Alonso, who seemed to be everywhere at once). The defence players proved a good understanding of the match and excellently delivered the balls.
Of the new signings, I particularly liked the performances of Voronin and Benayoun. They both ran a lot, always stood free to receive passes and crosses, and especially Voronin proved that he's a top scorer by coldly taking advantage of the mistakes in Bremen's defence and scoring two beautiful goals. Torres, who only played for about 30 minutes, showed effort, of course, but he didn't manage help create as many chances. Babel didn't manage to get too much room in the midfield.
Also, the atmosphere was awesome. They played "You'll Never Walk Alone" twice, once before the match and once afterwards, and everytime, the whole stadium was singing along and it was brilliant. Not as breathtaking as it must have been during the Champions League final, of course, but still amazing. :) I love that song so much. During the match, there wasn't too much chanting and cheering, except from the little group of fans behind the goal that belonged to Liverpool during the first half. They had a banner with them that said they were fans of Borussia Mönchengladbach cheering for Liverpool, because apparently, there's a club partnership between Gladbach and Liverpool. Very cute. :D And there was a Liverpool fan behind me who had a very loud organ. XD Everytime Carlos Alberto kicked the ball past Liverpool's goal, he guffawed and howled "Woah, you suck!" Not very nice, but it somehow amused me because really, a professional football player should not have such problems with finding out where the goal is. It seemed as if Carlos Alberto needed about 1,000 more chances before he'd finally score, and after his third wasted chance, even I couldn't help moaning with frustration, even though I was happy he didn't score. I guess the way he wasted his chances was plain offensive to my eyes. ;)
The photos of the second half will follow (including pics of Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres), but I have to edit them in Photoshop first because my camera hates floodlights and the pics are far too dark.
1. It was Fernando Torres' and Ryan Babel's first performance in Liverpool's jersey.
2. Andriy Voronin scored his first two goals for Liverpool.
3. Carlos Alberto played his first match in Werder Bremen's jersey.
Also, I guess it only happens once in a lifetime that you get to watch two world-famous teams play each other in a stadium like this, where the stands are so close to the pitch and there are no fences. Standing there with the players only a few feet away from me, I couldn't believe that one of those teams played this year's Champions League final and the other team finished the German league as third. It felt like watching two fourth division clubs who, by chance, happen to play great football. Instead, there were the big names, and I can't even begin to describe how it felt to see them from such a short distance. I mean, Steven Gerrard is a fucking hero for Liverpool, and he walked around RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. And Voronin! I was at the Allianz Arena when he scored that incredible goal against Bayern München, the one that hit the crossbar and the right goalpost before it hit the net. From the terrace where I was sitting that afternoon, he was the size of a pen. In Grenchen, I could see his face! I still can't believe it, really! manuanya, theellibu and I already discussed the chance of the photos being empty, because it's so impossible to be allowed to take photos of those players from such a short distance. But football players aren't vampires - at least not Liverpool's players - and they're still on the photos after two days. ;)
Statistics: Liverpool FC 3-2 SV Werder Bremen
Liverpool FC: Carson - Riise (46. Arbeloa), Hyypiä (46. Carragher), Paletta (46.Agger), Finnan (46. Darby) - El Zhar (73. Babel), Gerrard (46.Sissoko), Hobbs (46. Xabi Alonso), Pennant (46. Benayoun) - Crouch (46. Kuyt), Voronin (63. Torres)
SV Werder Bremen: Wiese - Fritz (46. Vranjes), Baumann, Niemeyer, Schulz - Frings (46.Jensen), Alberto (58. Bischoff), Andreasen, Borowski (46. Wome) -Schindler (80. Löning), Rosenberg (46. Almeida)
Goals:
1:0 Voronin (4.), 1:1 Schindler (6.), 2:1 Riise (14.), 3:1 Voronin (61.), 3:2 Almeida (85.)
One goal by Almeida (71.) was annulled because of offside, but it was funny to watch how the Liverpool players stood there, waiting for the referee's whistle, and then Almeida scored, and the goal music played, and the Werder fans cheered, and the Liverpool players stormed to the referee and discussed the matter with him. XD It took ages until the match continued.
Referee: Daniel Wermelinger (Switzerland), did an okay job. He didn't whistle too often, didn't book too many players. The match was fair overall, though I didn't really like the foul of Gerrard against Carlos Alberto, and Stevie should have been booked for the kick. I wonder what he was thinking. Fortunately, Alberto didn't make a huge scene out of it, and the two didn't clash again.
The match was great - you wouldn't have thought that it was just a friendly during the preparation phase. High speed (especially the wing players), great tactical play (especially Pennant, who switched sides with El Zhar on occasion) and later Xabi Alonso, who seemed to be everywhere at once). The defence players proved a good understanding of the match and excellently delivered the balls.
Of the new signings, I particularly liked the performances of Voronin and Benayoun. They both ran a lot, always stood free to receive passes and crosses, and especially Voronin proved that he's a top scorer by coldly taking advantage of the mistakes in Bremen's defence and scoring two beautiful goals. Torres, who only played for about 30 minutes, showed effort, of course, but he didn't manage help create as many chances. Babel didn't manage to get too much room in the midfield.
Also, the atmosphere was awesome. They played "You'll Never Walk Alone" twice, once before the match and once afterwards, and everytime, the whole stadium was singing along and it was brilliant. Not as breathtaking as it must have been during the Champions League final, of course, but still amazing. :) I love that song so much. During the match, there wasn't too much chanting and cheering, except from the little group of fans behind the goal that belonged to Liverpool during the first half. They had a banner with them that said they were fans of Borussia Mönchengladbach cheering for Liverpool, because apparently, there's a club partnership between Gladbach and Liverpool. Very cute. :D And there was a Liverpool fan behind me who had a very loud organ. XD Everytime Carlos Alberto kicked the ball past Liverpool's goal, he guffawed and howled "Woah, you suck!" Not very nice, but it somehow amused me because really, a professional football player should not have such problems with finding out where the goal is. It seemed as if Carlos Alberto needed about 1,000 more chances before he'd finally score, and after his third wasted chance, even I couldn't help moaning with frustration, even though I was happy he didn't score. I guess the way he wasted his chances was plain offensive to my eyes. ;)
The photos of the second half will follow (including pics of Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres), but I have to edit them in Photoshop first because my camera hates floodlights and the pics are far too dark.