Liverpool turns on the class

Photos BY SAM THAM

IT was Liverpool all the way and even Manchester United’s stars failed to stop the Reds from winning the inaugural Masters Football Malaysia Cup 2008 held at the Stadium Malawati in Shah Alam on Sunday.

Historical moment: Liverpool emerged champions of the first Masters Malaysia Cup tournament.

Liverpool led by one of Anfield’s most popular stars Ian Rush emerged Champions of the tournament after comfortably beating Bryan Robson’s Manchester United 5-3 in the final.

Manchester United managed to equalise three times after being down by 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 but Liverpool managed to seal the championship with two more goals in the second half of the six-a-side tournament held on a round-robin basis.

Thousands of fans of both the teams provided a good background for the finale.

While Liverpool fans were singing “You’ll never walk alone,’’ the MU fans were chanting “United, United, United.”

Liverpool had earlier thrashed the Red Devils 4-1 in their first match of the tournament before going on to beat Arsenal 6-1 and EPL All-Stars Masters 5-4 in the final group match.

There seemed to be nothing to stop the Liverpool legends comprising Rush, Paul Jones, Mike Marsh, Phil Babb, Micheal Thomas, Mark Walters, John Durnin and Paul Walsh who played with flair and accuracy in front of the goal.

Durnim was Liverpool’s star of the tournament as he was scoring goals from all angles and the other teams found it hard to contend with him.

Coming through: Michael Thomas trying to get past a Manchester United player.

Besides Robson, MU had Viv Anderson, Fraser Digby, Russel Beardsmore, David May, Lee Martin, Clayton Blackmore and Andy Ritchie on the line-up.

Besides lifting the Cup, Rush was also awarded with best captain trophy while Liverpool’s Durnim won the top scorer’s trophy with nine goals while Mark Walters emerging as the best defender of the tournament.

To sum it up, it was a night to remember for the hundreds of Liverpool fans who were present at the indoor stadium.

The tournament which started at 4pm ended at about 8pm.