Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard described the “buzz” of playing at Anfield having stepped onto the fabled pitch for a charity match, admitting there will be less and less opportunity to do so in the future
Gerrard was part of a Liverpool Legends side that won 4-2 against a team of Ajax Legends, with Sven-Goran Eriksson managing the Reds to allow him to fulfil a lifelong ambition in the wake of the Swede making his terminal cancer diagnosis public earlier this year.
43-year-old Gerrard, who hung up his boots in 2016 after a short spell at LA Galaxy, parked his day job as manager of Al Ettifaq in the Saudi Pro League to turn back the clock.
“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,” he said, via Liverpool’s official website
“I was on the flight [from Saudi Arabia], 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.
“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.”
Gerrard went on to reflect on just how “powerful” the Anfield crowd can be.
“It’s always been fantastic,” he said. “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. 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. There’s going to be a lot of money raised going to go to some fantastic causes. Sven being here was very special; as soon as I knew he was going to be the gaffer, I couldn’t wait to come and play for him one more time.”
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