John Arne Riise opened in the brutal way, as he was informed that he left Liverpool after seven years of service.
Riise is an undisputed Reds legend who achieved 348 appearances and won the Champions League among the seven trophies that he won in Anfield.
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The former defender was an incredible servant for Liverpool and announced only £ 4 million in 2001.
Who was also able to forget the contribution of the Champions League victory in 2005 and support the first goal that Liverpool’s monumental comeback against AC Milan started. Although he missed his spot kick in the shootout.
He would leave in 2008, even though he did not say cold in the club through his own choice and manager Rafael Benitez that he had little future.
When Riise said Talksports The Lineup: “I was in training and someone came to the changing room to say that the boss wants to speak to them.
“We still had two games in the season and I had another year, so I thought it was an extension of the contract. Hopefully I will get a boost.
“I sat down and had no idea, he said:” I think it’s time for us to go separate ways. “I think I’ve been here for seven seasons and so we won everything?
“I knew there were stories that we signed a new left -wing back and he told me that Andrea Dossena would come.
“He gave me the choice that I could stay and fight. But the new player who comes in I won’t get a chance for four or five months.”
What it made even more cruel was the fact that he was denied two further replacement appearances that would bring him to 350 games for the club.
Riise added: “I asked him that I have 348 games. In the last two I can arrive in the last two as a subs and have an average of 50 games per season. No chance.
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“I went into the changing room and the boys asked me what happened and I said: ‘I’m done’. I went to the car, cried a bit alone.
“It was such a shock when I was there for seven seasons. My agent said: ‘Don’t worry and we will have a new club for you in a few days.'”
The Norwegian would join Roma this summer, where he spent three seasons before returning to the Premier League to get a spell with Fulham.
He finally withdrew from football in 2017 after playing more than 850 games for club and country.
It was a famous career with the highlight of the Champions League final against AC Milan.
Of course, this was discussed in the line -up and Riise admitted that they always had the feeling of achieving something special.
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“We knew (Rafa) Benitez that we could beat everyone in a unique game,” said Riise.
“We could run for each other all day.
“We didn’t have the best single players, we obviously had Stevie (Gerrard).
“The only time I ever felt shocked. I stood in the tunnel and look next to me. I see (Paolo) Maldini, Cafu, Kaka, all these players.
“I think ‘What the hell do I do here?’ I come from a small Norway. “
Liverpool came back from a catastrophic start, in which they were covered with 3-0 at halftime and brought the game to punish.
“For me personally, I saw the change when she became 3-2,” said Riise.
“Gennaro Gattuso started screaming.
“When we scored a goal to do it 3-3, we had to put ourselves back because we didn’t want to go on, and then score to do it with 4: 3, and it’s a game over.”
Milan started a horror start when Serginho made the first attempt but solved his efforts over the bar.
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Thanks to the Reds glove Jerzy Dudek, Pirlo, who was not deceived by his slow advance, also missed.
As far as Liverpool is concerned, they bury their first two experiments about Dietmar Hamann and Djibril Cisse.
Liverpool had the chance to go 3-1 in the shootout, but Riise was denied by Milan goalkeeper Dida.
Kaka and Smicer scored a goal, which means that Andriy Shevchenko had to score a goal to keep the competition alive.
But Dudek held out his left paw to secure Liverpool her fifth Champions League crown and to remind Reds fans for a night.