Friday 27 July 2007

Asia Trophy...PortsmOuth win 4-2 on penalties

The Barclays Asia Cup ended in unfamiliar territiory for Liverpool Fc....They lost 4-2 on PENALTIES!..A game the Reds deserved to win was settled in the end by the dreaded lottery that is a penalty shoot out..great stuff for the fans though in these pre-season friendlies.


Two of Liverpools new boys were the culprits as Fernando Torres penalty just didnt have enough meat on it to trouble "calamity" James in the Portsmouth goal. Benayoum was the other villain.His half hearted effort deserved no less than it got.A lst minute sub by Harry Redknapp looked decisive as Croation international Kranchear came on the score the winning goal after their new summer striker had missed the opening shot giving Liverpool ands early advantage.

As much as teams hate to lose in any competition Rafa Benitez will be pleased that there is some good quality football coming from the Reds ..the rust of preeseason should be well washed away by the time the serious business starts.Liverpool created enough to win comfortably but there was no real edge to the game although ref Mark Clattenberg did have to bring out the book in the second half after a rash challenge on Finnan from a Portsmouth defender..still most importantly Lucas Leiva the under 20 Brazil skipper got off the bench and Torres now has his international clearance through to play competetively for the Reds.

Things are looking good with this new look Liverpool squad.Steven Gerrard came on in the last 6 minutes to fulfil the cameo role for the clubs marketing activity in the far east.His injury worries cant be serious as im sure the club would not have risked him even for 6 minutes if there was any real problem......more to come.....

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