Although the result did not go according to plan, with the Reds being beaten 2-1, the experience stayed with everyone.
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Former Liverpool centre-back Daniel Agger is extremely happy to get a chance to play at Anfield again. On Saturday, the defender was part of the Liverpool FC Legends team against Barca Legends in their charity match at L4. Although the result did not go according to plan, with the Reds being beaten 2-1, the experience stayed with everyone. Agger turned back time to produce a top-notch defensive display at the back, which earned him the Standard Chartered Player of the Match award.
“It was good fun. I hope people enjoyed it, even though it was slow but still hard. I don’t play football at all, so I was trying my best to hide it!” the Dane told Liverpoolfc.com post-match. “As we said in the dressing room at half-time, it’s easy to play football if you keep the football – and we definitely didn’t do that!”
Speaking about playing in front of an Anfield crowd, Agger said: “It’s a feeling you can’t recreate anywhere else. It’s just nice to be here, nice to be here on the pitch, nice to play football again. I don’t play at all. I wish I could play more but it’s nice to be here.”
For the Sir Kenny Dalglish-led home side, Steven Gerrard was on the scoresheet after he opened the scoring from the penalty spot. However, goals from Giovanni and Rivaldo helped Barca’s fightback. “He’s always up for it,” Agger said of the former Liverpool captain. “We know his mentality and it’s still a joy to play next to him.”
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Meanwhile, former player Luis Garcia was happy to be playing at Anfield, as he opened up about how he felt playing in the LFC Foundation charity match. “From the beginning I knew I was going to have a chance of winning today!” Garcia told Liverpoolfc.com after the match.
“I have to be honest, I heard a few complaints I played two halves! A few rumours about that! First half, I struggled a little bit with the chances I had, I didn’t score. But trust me, I wanted to finish them, no luck today. When you come here, you are desperate to perform well, to give everything. You try – your head goes but your body doesn’t follow the orders.”
“I had the chance to play in many different countries and continents and I haven’t seen this anywhere,” said Garcia. “I think that’s why it’s special – that’s why all the former players want to come here to play, not only from the Liverpool side, also from the Barcelona side. You have to do a list of 22 but there is a long list who would have loved to be here.
“This is a special ground, everybody knows that. When there was a chance for Barça to come here and play, everybody says yes straight away. And all the families were looking forward to this game, you can see the children before the game, all the players came out to look around and enjoy the atmosphere. It has been fantastic, we had a great time today.”
