WORLD’S GREATEST
Firmino seals a global win
ROBERTO FIRMINO ripped off his shirt, wheeled away in delight and celebrated a new chapter in Liverpool’s proud history.
Finally, the six-time European Cup victors can proudly call themselves the best team on the planet after winning the Club World Cup for the first time. Firmino deserved it for a wonderful, ice-cool finish in extra time and it seemed fitting that a Brazilian should settle a tense, gruelling and damaging final in the Khalifa Stadium.
It is often said that this competition is more important to the South Americans than European teams but the way Firmino’s team-mates rushed to celebrate with him told its own story. This means everything to Jurgen Klopp and his players, a team now in the habit of winning silverware. They want to win trophy after trophy to push the club into a new golden era to make Klopp’s reign as glorious as the best teams of the late 1970s and 80s.
But the difference for Liverpool now is they have the final missing piece of the jigsaw, now nobody can dispute they are the best.
They sit proudly clear at the top of the Premier League, they rule Europe and now the world and the regrets of losing this final in 1981 and 2005 are eased.
It was a difficult final with VAR controversy and a nasty-looking injury for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain but Liverpool always have the knack to dig deep.
They deserved it, they were the better team but missed chances and you began to wonder whether another opportunity would pass them by. Firmino crashed a shot against the post, Mo Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold sent efforts whistling just wide as the clock ticked down and the game went into extra-time and towards penalties.
But the sight of Klopp screaming at his players, filling them with determination and instructions with his team-talk at the end of a gruelling match gave them extra energy.
That was the key as Klopp’s energy and winning habit has breathed new life into Liverpool.
And do not let anyone tell you that this trophy does not mean everything because the Liverpool boss, despite a mounting fixture schedule, fielded his strongest line-up with Virgil van Dijk back in defence and the first-choice front three.
Firmino blazed over within the first minute, Naby Keita was unlucky, Alexander-Arnold went close and Flamengo looked second-best for much of the first half before finishing well and the outstanding Joe Gomez made a timely
block to thwart Bruno Henrique. Firmino went even closer in the second half, his shot crashing against the inside of the post before Oxlade-Chamberlain suffered more injury heartbreak.
The England midfielder hobbled off after needing lengthy treatment following an awkward fall.
It was an injury to his right knee which kept him out for a year until April this year and his bad luck is truly heartbreaking.
Jordan Henderson then saw a wonderful shot tipped over by Flamengo keeper Diego Alves as they chased a winner and Liverpool’s frustrations reached boiling point thanks to a VAR controversy.
Sadio Mane went through in injury-time, was about to pull the trigger and shoot when Rafinha made a last-ditch challenge.
Referee Al Jassim pointed to the spot, but then consulted the video screen on the side of the pitch – and overturned his original decision.
Al Jassim did not even give a foul when it looked like it was a free-kick but the challenge was outside the box.
But it was definitely not a penalty and is surely a lesson for the Premier League to start encouraging referees to consult their touchline monitors.
As Liverpool looked dead on their feet, they summoned one last breath in extra-time for a precious winner.
Henderson sent Mane racing through, his reverse pass put in Firmino and the Brazilian kept his nerve to turn inside and finish.