Player told police he 'loved them'
Our Correspondent on eyewitness accounts of the Liverpool fracas in Portugal
The Times
February 19, 2007
James Ducker
Craig Bellamy was not the only member of the Liverpool squad to disgrace himself in Portugal but it might have always been asking too much to hope that, if controversy ever flared at the club, he would have nothing to do with it.
How BenÍtez must be regretting allowing his players to go out last Thursday night. The manager had been persuaded by some of the squad to allow them to enjoy a meal and some drinks out before they flew back home from their five-day training camp in the sun-baked Algarve resort of Vale do Lobo the next day. It was a reasonable request that drew an equally fair response – yes, but remember who you are, where you are and that you have your biggest match of the season so far against Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday.
What ensued was an insult to BenÍtez, who had treated his players with the respect they expect only to have it thrown back in his face by one or two miscreants. No wonder the manager will think twice the next time his players ask to go out when overseas.
The evening had started well enough and in good humour at Monty’s Restaurant and Bar, but alcohol changed all that. Bellamy is alleged to have got involved in a drunken row with John Arne Riise when the Norwegian – who was not said to be drinking – declined the opportunity to take part in karaoke.
Others, including Jerzy Dudek, Jermaine Pennant and Robbie Fowler, are also alleged to have got involved in a row of their own and, despite the best efforts of Steven Gerrard, the captain, and Peter Crouch, the forward, to keep the peace, the police were called. Enough to persuade the troublemakers to calm down? Apparently not.
Trouble flared again when the party were escorted back to the Barringtons Club and Barringtons-Centro Desportivo hotel, and even though no one was charged or arrested, the noise was such that June and Peter Lover, a retired couple from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, were woken up at about 1.30am and watched in despair from their apartment as armed police, some from Portugal’s riot squad, attempted to restore order.
“There must have been at least five police vehicles and a dozen police under our window,” Mrs Lover said. “The noise was terrible and we simply couldn’t sleep through it. At first it sounded like late-night revelry and we knew the Liverpool squad were downstairs. But then things seemed to get out of hand and the police arrived.” Mr Lover said one player with an Eastern European accent, thought to be Dudek, the Poland goalkeeper, was handcuffed by police before eventually being released. And only when a member of Liverpool’s management team arrived did things calm down.
“He kept telling the police how much he loved them, as if he was pleading to be allowed to go free,” Mr Lover said. “At one point, the police seemed to be slapping him around the face, trying to bring him round and sober him up because he was so drunk. He kept apologising over and over again but the police didn’t want to know. It was only after a while that the police found someone from the Liverpool management, who managed to calm things down and talk quietly. Eventually, the police let the player go after some negotiations and he seemed very relieved indeed and kept thanking them.
“We have many teams around the complex and there is usually no trouble at all, but this was not a very pleasant experience. It was thoroughly shameful and brings a terrible name to a club like Liverpool. These players get paid so much and are often so young, but for something like this to happen is awful.” Where Bellamy was at this point is unclear, but the forward, still angry with Riise, had allegedly made a beeline for his teammate back at the hotel and hit him around the legs with a golf club. Age Hareide, the Norway manager, seemed to confirm the alleged incident yesterday when he said that Riise was “fine” and “escaped without injuries”.
All of which provides an unnecessary and unseemly pretext to Liverpool’s first knockout round, first leg clash with Barcelona at the Nou Camp and has left a bad taste in the mouths of the club’s new American owners, George Gillett Jr and Tom Hicks.
BenÍtez had been encouraged to hear of dissent in the Spanish team’s camp last week, but, depressingly, the situation has been turned on its head. Only time will tell whether it adversely affects Liverpool’s hopes of progressing in the competition.
Bellamy will still be around, then, but it is unlikely to be for much longer after that.
