French connection sinks Manchester United legends

LIVERPOOL legends saw off their rival Manchester United legends in a thrilling game at the Bukit Jalil Stadium last night.

Liverpool’s Djibril Cisse stole the spotlight with a hat-trick, including two penalties, in the 16th, 44th and 51st. Their fourth goal was scored by Florent Sinama in the 76th.

Manchester Reds replied through goals by Dimitar Berbatov and Danny Webber in the 17th and 39th respectively.

Both teams played expansive football in the first half with Cisse putting the Liverpool squad ahead before a quick equaliser from Dmitar Berbatov showing he had not lost any of his sharpness with age. 

The final score was 4-2.

Around 25,000 fans were at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil and made their presence felt by continuously singing, cheering and even at times booing the play and the referee’s decisions. 

The downpour before the match did little to dampen their spirits.

Although the scoreline ended 4-2, David James, who played in goal and was manager for the day, apologised to fans as he had predicted a 4-1 victory.

Liverpool Reds were represented by manager James and players Emile Heskey, Glen Johnson, John Arne Riise, Patrik Berger, Vladimir Smicer, Steve McManaman, Jason McAteer, Florent Sinama, John Durnin, David Thompson, Jermaine Pennant, Djibril Cisse, and Phil Babb, with Luis Garcia as captain.

The Manchester Reds line-up featured Dwight Yorke as the manager, with players David May, Wes Brown, Clayton Blackmore, Keith Gillespie, Ben Thornley, Eric Djemba Djemba, Paul Rachubka, Russell Beardsmore, Lee Martin, Danny Webber, Mikael Silvestre, Quinton Fortune, Dimitar Berbatov, Erik Nevland, and Dion Dublin, with Teddy Sheringham leading as captain.

All in all, it was a great event bringing the Premier League’s two most popular teams’ legends to Malaysia to play an exhibition game.

It showed that even 10,000 miles away from the UK, the enthusiasm for these former household names brought scores of fans from as far as the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and even Africa to our shores just to watch their favourite players in action. – April 28, 2024.