Suarez bantu Uruguay ke perlawanan akhir Copa Amerika
2011/07/20
LA PLATA: Penyerang Uruguay, Luiz Suarez, muncul wira selepas menjaringkan kedua-dua gol negara itu menundukkan Peru 2-0 bagi menjamin tempat ke perlawanan akhir Copa Amerika, sebentar tadi.
Gol terbabit dijaringkan pada separuh masa kedua di La Plata, selepas Uruguay berjaya menewaskan tuan rumah, Argentina pada suku akhir sebelum ini. “Ia adalah perlawanan yang sengit pada separuh masa pertama dan kami kekurangan dari segi ketajaman walaupun banyak mencipta peluang,” kata Suarez yang kini berkongsi tiga jaringan keseluruhan dengan penyerang Argentina, Sergio Aguero. - AFP
PENYERANG Uruguay, Luis Suarez berjaya melepasi penjaga gol Peru, Raul Fernandez untuk menjaringkan gol kedua pasukannya pada perlawanan separuh akhir Copa Amerika 2011 di Stadium La Plata dekat Buenos Aires, Argentina. Keputusan Uruguay 2, Peru 0. - Foto AFP
Jul 20, 2011 12:44 pm
With Liverpool's highly successful pre-season tour of the Far East having drawn to a close, we caught up with Managing Director Ian Ayre to reflect on a week in which the Reds made thousands of Asian dreams come true.
We're now back in England after a week we'll never forget - how do you assess Asia 2011 for Liverpool Football Club?
It's been a fantastic week. It's hard to measure these things but the people who are most important to this sort of trip are the fans and I think that as a result of two games, two open training sessions and a whole bunch of events and commercial activities, we probably had somewhere in the region of 200,000 fans connect with us over a one week period, which is staggering.
Everybody left with a smile on their face, which is important, our sponsors were gushing in their comments with how big an effect Liverpool had for them and their activities in that part of the world and for the staff and players it was a fantastic experience.
For younger players and new players it was a real chance to see the size, the power and the importance of Liverpool Football Club globally. Everyone came back having enjoyed it. We were a little bit tired but I think we achieved a lot.
Are you satisfied you achieved all of your pre-tour goals?
Absolutely. The real goal is to make the fans out there feel as important as we try to make the fans here feel. Everybody connected with the club out there commented to me or to each other how happy the fans were and how happy they were that we were there. That's what it's all about. We were a long way from home but it felt like we were at home and that's important. They don't get to see us play up close every week but they are no less passionate.
Anyone who thinks they are should take a trip out there next time we are there. We saw fans at 5am when we arrived in Malaysia, 38,000 fans turned up for training, so there's no lack of commitment or passion. So long as they got what they deserved from Liverpool Football Club then that was the most important thing.
First up it was a trip to China - what are your memories from the first leg of the tour?
We chose Guangzhou because it was less typical than other places the big European teams have been to in the past. Although we have a big fanbase in that part of the world, it's very widespread in China so we wanted to pick somewhere where we could attract people not just from that market, but we also had fans come from Hong Kong.
It was a success. We were besieged in the hotel at times and there were stories of fans sleeping in the gardens of the hotel. We had a great reception from the Chinese FA and others we spoke to and they said the impact Liverpool had was fantastic for them and their city and football in China. We achieved a lot and the fans loved it. People often talk about the difficulties of a communist country, but we didn't see any evidence of that. It was great fun.
Then we went to Malaysia where I think we were all taken by surprise...
Yes, and none more so than me. I lived there for five years so I thought I'd seen everything until I saw the crowd we had for the game and the crowd we had for training. The amount of people at training was almost as big as what we get at Anfield for a Premier League game. I spoke to a couple of players after the match and they were blown away by the noise. It felt to me like the sort of memory you get at a European Cup final where it's just a sea of red and white and noise. It didn't abate when the game started, it just went on and on.
We went for a walk around the pitch with Phil Thompson and Ian Rush before the game and people were just hysterical. It was phenomenal. If we can have that sort of effect on fans in any country when we go on tour then we are doing something right. It's all about being able to give back. As long as we can keep giving back then I think we can feel good about what we're doing. We are definitely making progress to engage more and give more to our fans all over the world.
Even though we only had the one day in Singapore, it was another chance to meet even more Liverpool fans...
We went to play in Singapore in 2009 so we were under no illusions about the size of our support. We thought it would be nice to go back there following the change of our programme in Korea. It wasn't possible to play a game because they don't have a national stadium at the moment, so we decided to go there and train at a small venue. We got a fantastic reception at the hotel and a great training session in our new kit.
It was an amazing turnout and an amazing amount of noise for a training session. I think the players are going to get a bit bored training at Melwood on their own in the future.
You can never fault the Singaporean fans. They came out in numbers and were probably the most coordinated singers of everyone we met.
From a commercial point of view, what has the feedback been from your sponsors since you arrived back?
Really good. I have said a few times that the reason people sponsor Liverpool isn't about what we won last year, this year or the year after. The good and great sponsors we have at Liverpool work with us because we deliver something on a long term basis and that's what has grown us into one of the biggest football clubs in the world. It's our history, our legacy, everything that we represent. That has got good and bad points to it; good because we have a rich history and such a big fanbase, but it's difficult because you have to manage it and keep people believing.
I think what we saw and what the sponsors saw is we are still as big, still as popular and still as engaging with the fanbases across the world. Every single one of them got more than they expected out of the tour, every one of them commented on the professionalism of our players - not just on the pitch but at the various sponsor based events. They worked really hard with no complaints and I think for that reason the sponsors realise we give back everything that they give us.
There were lots of demands on the players during the week - how pleased were you with the roles they played as ambassadors for the club?
I think what was encouraging was that we saw them go above and beyond without being asked. There is often a lot of criticism about footballers these days about how much they're paid and all sorts of negativity in the media.
There are certain players who get a pretty rough ride in the media and when you see those players making such an important contribution at community events with kids - and not because they have been told to - then it's great. I went to one community event where the players were due to leave at a certain time and didn't want to go. That, for me, is very encouraging because it means not only do they want to work on the other things that Liverpool Football Club does and should do, but also that they enjoy it. I think we are very lucky to have such a good group.
You took a number of community coaches on the trip as well - how big a role did they play in spreading the word of LFC?
I would say after the games and what they meant to the fans, the community effort was the next biggest thing. We took four of our community coaches. There are a lot of people in our community team who all make a massive contribution here on Merseyside and other places, but we took four with us who all did an amazing job. I think they'd be in the top ten of people who worked the hardest on the trip. Every time you saw them they had a sack of balls and were jumping in a van to go somewhere else.
I saw them up close on a couple of occasions working with players or with kids and other organisations and the impact they had was phenomenal. Everybody was commenting how great they'd been and of the impact they had. They gave away a lot of kit to orphanages and other types of organisations, and I think that's really important. There is a lot of commentary year after year when clubs go on pre-season tour about big clubs taking money out of the market. I think we demonstrated that we were there for more than just playing football and making a bit of money. We were there for good and hopefully that has a long term effect.
The club media team were also on the tour - how important was it to showcase to the world via our numerous media platforms what we were achieving in Asia?
If you are a fan anywhere in the world you want to know what your football club is doing. We had a great media team with us and what's fantastic is that it's our team of our people, so they understand what we're trying to achieve. Everybody within our organisation, the players, the manager, the coaches and staff all know everyone from our team and I think that pays dividends when you see the quality of the access we get and the quality of the footage we get.
That means our fans on Merseyside, our fans in Asia and our fans in the rest of the world can all get a real sense of what's going on. That's very important because we are not just about playing football matches. Of course, that's the most important thing but we have to be rounded as a club and a business and have to deliver in all areas. The more we can showcase that through our own media channels the better because as we grow and build and become better and better and be the best we can be, letting people see that is most important.
On a personal level, what was the highlight of Asia 2011 for you?
The highlight for me was probably Malaysia. It's somewhere I lived for a long time and somewhere where I have a lot of friends. I felt quite proud to be able to take Liverpool to Malaysia and for it to have such a big impact on so many people on both sides, both on the fans and on everyone at our club. That was the jewel in the crown for me. Watching the team walk out on that day was pretty special and I don't think anyone who was there will ever forget it. I certainly won't.
Finally, what is your message to everybody who contributed to making the past week such a success?
From me it's a message of thanks. I am tasked with pulling everything together at the club and if you're a Liverpool fan or member of staff at any level in the club I think you can wake up today here in Liverpool and think that we all worked together as a team to deliver something quite special.
That's got to be our direction going forward. If we all work together and pull together, we can deliver some amazing things and hopefully going forward the amazing things will be on the football pitch. It won't always be on the pitch, though, and I think this was the best example of that. It was a fantastic piece of work from everybody.
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Post time 19-7-2011 03:07 PM
