18 Dec 2005
Sao Paulo 1-0 Liverpool - Club World Championship
| Quote: |
| Liverpool slipped to defeat in the Club World Championship final against Sao Paulo in a game dominated by the Reds - Liverpool created numerous chances and had three efforts ruled out for offside but were thwarted by hurried finishing and in-form goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni. (BBC report) |
Match reactions:
Rafa: "
The first thing I can say is congratulations to my players and we deserved to win. We had 21 shots and 17 corners and we hit the bar twice, we scored three goals but what can you do? We couldn't have done anymore to win."
"I am not happy with a lot of things from the game but I am very happy with my players and
we did everything possible for winning."
"I have tried to show respect for Sao Paulo because it is a good team but we deserved to win and we controlled the game.
You don't normally see a team from Brazil defending like they did."
Xabi: "We're bitterly disappointed but we've got to accept it and get on with things.
There's no point in moaning about it now. It's a shame we couldn't lift the trophy, but we've got to pick ourselves up and keep on working."
Riise: "
We've proved we can play some great football out here but now we've got to go home, get used to English time again and start thinking about the match against
Newcastle on Boxing Day."
Reina: "
I'm angry at the way it's ended because we were the better side. We've let a title slip out of our hands and it's the kind of competition you only ever get one chance at.
I wasn't that bothered about the record. It had to end some time. I'm just annoyed that it had to happen in the final with a title at stake."
Garcia: "
We feel cheated. They tell me it wasn't a goal, but what can you do now? We can't do anything. We have lost out on the trophy but we know we've played well. They had one chance, and nothing else after that.
At least I think we showed everyone that we can compete with the best teams in the world, and I believe we can kick on from this now."
| Quote: |
Sometimes you don't get what you deserve in football and that's exactly what happened to Liverpool as they dominated the FIFA Club World Championship final but lost 1-0 to Sao Paulo.
In what was Liverpool's best display of the season the Reds created enough chances to have won by a big margin but when lady luck is not with you sometimes you just have to say it was one of those days.
The one big positive Liverpool can take from this final was the performance and the watching world know the Reds are a major force to be reckoned with again.
Quite simply the best team in in this tournament didn't win and Liverpool that is for certain will bounce back.
It would have been wonderful to go into Christmas being World Champions but we are European Champions and if 2006 is as good as year as 2005 has been for Liverpool then more exciting times lie ahead.
From: Liverpoolfc.tv |
View people's opinions before and after the match in the thread of '
who's gonna win, sunday in yokohama?' in
General Football Forum.
