Euro watch: Xabi Alonso looked man with point to prove

Jun 19 2008 by Chris Beesley, Liverpool Daily Post

SO FAR in Euro 2008, Anfield interest in the Spanish team’s fortunes have been centred around Fernando Torres.

Liverpool’s top scorer has made a goal, scored a goal, been substituted prematurely, denied falling out with his coach and denied that he’s about to join Chelsea for a world record fee.

However, with Luis Aragones’s side having already won Group D, ‘El Nino’ and most of his fellow regulars in the side were given the night off ahead of their quarter-finals showdown with world champions Italy.

The scenario duly presented an opportunity for three other Liverpool players to figure with the Anfield trio of Xabi Alonso, Pepe Reina and Alvaro Arbeloa all stepping off the bench.

Alonso was handed the captain’s armband and produced the kind of performance that would have banished any question marks over his Liverpool future if seen on a regular basis at Anfield.

Rafael Benitez now prefers Argentininian Javier Mascherano in his first choice midfield but Alonso put a poor season with his club behind him and was unfortunate not to score with a trademark shot from the halfway line that caught out Greek keeper Antonis Nikopolidis in the first half before rattling his right-hand post with a 30-yard screamer after the interval.

Whether he was playing for his place in Aragones’s line-up, his Liverpool future or a move to the likes of Juventus, Alonso looked like a man with a point to prove.

In contrast, Arbeloa hardly covered himself with glory, caught in no man’s land between two Greek attackers for the opening goal and booked just before the break, it was a display that wouldn’t have worried incoming Liverpool full-backs Andrea Dossena and Philipp Degen much.

As arguably the best goalkeeper in the world not to be number one with his national side, this was a rare chance for Pepe Reina to shine in front of Aragones but you can’t help but feel that the three-time Premier League Golden Gloves winner gets a raw deal with Spain.

Iker Casillas seems to be an immovable object in the number one jersey but his Anfield counterpart has done much more on the European stage in recent seasons.

Reina didn’t have much chance with the bullet header that brought Angelos Charisteas’s opener but facing the defence-minded Greeks is never going to be the busiest of nights for a goalkeeper eager to show his worth.