Kop idol Torres: My derby debut delight

Mar 31 2008 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

DERBY matchwinner Fernando Torres saluted the unique inspiration of the Kop after strengthening Liverpool’s claims for a top-four finish.

The Spaniard struck within seven minutes of his derby debut yesterday to earn Rafael Benitez’s men a 1-0 win over Everton at Anfield in the 207th meeting between the teams.

It moved Torres on to 21 Premier League goals for the season and pushed Liverpool five points clear of their neighbours in the race for fourth place and the final Champions League qualification berth.

The striker has netted 19 of those top-flight goals on home soil of which a remarkable 15 have come in front of the Kop.

And an ecstatic Torres said: “To score the winner in my first derby is fantastic.

“But the victory was the most important thing and Everton are further away than before, and we are on target for the top four and can concentrate on the Champions League now.

“I always feel confident that I can score at Anfield. I’ve got 19 Premier League goals here now which is fantastic for me, and I seem to score most of those in front of the Kop!

“I don’t know why that is, but I’m always scoring at that end. It must be something about the stand, it is just different.

“I think that’s now 15 of those 19 goals have come in front of the Kop, and I always feel confident when I’m facing that end of the pitch.”

Torres, who now has 28 goals in all competitions, was making his first appearance in the Merseyside derby after missing the October clash at Goodison through injury.

And the Spain international added: “It was amazing. The fans are very happy now. There was very good support for both teams.

“A derby game is always different from the others. It’s an important game for the fans, and you can feel all through the week building up to the game that it’s a special game. Beating Everton always makes the fans happy.”

The victory gave Liverpool only their sixth league double over Everton in the last 35 years.

Torres believes it was the perfect response from Benitez’s side after their seven-game winning run was halted by the 3-0 drubbing at Manchester United last Sunday.

And the forward reckons Liverpool can take the confidence from their derby triumph into Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg at Arsenal.

“Whenever you have a bad result, you always want to bounce straight back with a win,” said Torres.

“We have confidence again now, and we have the confidence to go and win against Arsenal.

“We’ve forgotten the United result now. It was a bad game for us. Now we have Arsenal away, and we know it will be a big game. We have six league games to come too and we can concentrate on them.”

Benitez wouldn’t rise to prompting that Torres is currently the best striker in Europe.

But he did hail his record signing’s impact in his first season in English football.

Benitez said: “He has more or less been a surprise to everyone. We knew he was a fantastic player who can score goals.

“But to score 28 goals with 21 coming in the League in his first season over here is fantastic. It is not easy for anyone to do, especially for a foreign player.

I don’t like to say that one striker is better than another. It is difficult to compare.

“But he is certainly one of the best because he is scoring goals and playing well. But there are a lot of good strikers in the world and in Europe.

“The understanding between him and Gerrard is the key for us. Also you can see that Kuyt and Babel are going forward so the team has that extra balance.”

UEFA president Michel Platini believes last weekend’s sending off of Javier Mascherano was the “right thing” and has backed the Football Association’s clampdown on dissent.

The Liverpool midfielder was sent off after confronting referee Steve Bennett in the 3-0 defeat at Manchester United last Sunday – his dismissal coming just days after the outrage generated by Ashley Cole’s behaviour towards Mike Riley, who did not red card the Chelsea left-back.

The FA has launched a campaign to promote respect to referees in the amateur game, and it appears that a more hard-line stance has now been adopted by professional officials.

Platini believes it is not before time and has predicted that when the initial controversy dies down, players will soon get used to keeping their mouths shut.

“The decision of the English FA to insist on showing yellow cards to any players arguing with referees in amateur games is a good one,” Platini said.

“It’s something that should have been done 40 years ago. The referees have the backing of the rules to do this.”

He added: “Mascherano got a yellow card for running at the referee, which is correct. He won’t do it again now. What the referee did was good, it was the right thing to give him the second yellow card.

“We have to make sure the referees are respected. Of course the players don’t like it at first but they won’t do it a second time and if it means other players learn to restrain themselves, that’s a good thing.”

Platini revealed he is also working with the French government and European Commission in a bid to stop big clubs poaching promising youngsters under the age of 18.

“I have told the European Commission that we should ban the transfer of minors,” he said.

“The first football contract that a player signs should be for club that trains them. You don’t train someone to be sold, you train a player to play.

“It is important to protect our young people. Minors shouldn’t be seen as a machine that can be transferred for the benefit of agents or clubs. They have time enough for that.

“It’s to do with protecting social values, family values. There is no justification for buying them at 15, getting them over with parents, that is just not on.

“We’re going to fight it.”

Platini added: “I am speaking to the European Commission regarding the specific nature of sport in European Law.”