ReactionWhy Steven Gerrard savoured every moment of Anfield return
Steven Gerrard savoured every moment of his latest return to Anfield as he helped Liverpool FC Legends claim a 4-2 victory on Saturday.
The Reds icon was back in L4 for the LFC Foundation charity fixture against Ajax Legends, which was played in front of a crowd of just under 60,000.
Having trailed by two goals at half-time, Liverpool came back to win as Gregory Vignal, Djibril Cisse, Nabil El Zhar and Fernando Torres scored at the Kop end.
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Watch on YouTubePost-match, Gerrard spoke to Liverpoolfc.com about the emotions of a day that also saw Sven-Goran Eriksson fulfil his dream of taking charge of a Reds team.
Read Gerrard’s reaction at Anfield below…
On how special it is to return to Anfield…
It’s always been fantastic. When this crowd get going, especially in night games, it’s a powerful crowd. Obviously they’re building the capacity as we go along, it was 59,000 today. And I think they helped us turn the game around. 2-0 down at half-time but we felt it was against the run of play. We had to get the next goal and I thought the lads were terrific second half.
It’s all for a good cause, we’ve got to remember why we’re here – we’re here for a good cause. There’s going to be a lot of money raised today going to go to some fantastic causes. Sven being here today was very special; as soon as I knew he was going to be the gaffer today, I couldn’t wait to come and play for him one more time.
On turning the game around in the second half…
He [Sven] changed a lot of things at half-time, I think he knew we didn’t have any width in the first half and we were trying to force it through the middle. He made a lot of changes at half-time, gave us more width, asking us to stretch it more. He’s still got it! He’s still got the magic at half-time, he made a difference.
On being part of the occasion…
There’s three things. You want to come and play with your mates again. You obviously want to come for the cause, to help raise as much money. But the opportunity to play in front of these fans again, that’s the buzz. I was on the flight, I was like a big kid coming over. Six-and-a-half-hour flight, I couldn’t wait to get here. That’s what it’s all about.
- You can support the work of LFC Foundation with a donation at liverpoolfc.com/donate
On whether he is savouring these events more as he gets older…
Yeah, because I know I’m only going to play in front of this crowd another couple of times maybe. That’s if I stay off the carbs and stay off the beers! I was just looking round at the end thinking to myself, ‘This is going to [happen] less and less so just savour every moment.’ It was brilliant.
On today’s opponents…
A huge thank-you to Ajax as well, give them credit [for] coming over. We need them here as well to participate. We’ve raised over £6 million [through legends matches], played Barcelona, Ajax, Real Madrid. Hopefully it keeps coming.
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