Surprise Backing For Bellamy To Stay At Anfield

Last updated : 26 February 2007 By Footy Mad - Editor

The player he tried to launch to the 18th tee, John Arne Riise, has admitted he wants to see Bellamy stay at Liverpool despite calls for the Welsh international to pack his bags.

The club claim the Norwegian defender was NOT hit by a golf club, only threatened, and the pair were reprimanded by manager Rafael Benitez.
Riise: "Craig is a great player and we all want great players at this club. He always works very hard for the team.
"It is not up to me to decide what the future is for Craig at Liverpool. My job is to focus on what I am doing for the team. But I would like to see him stay here. It was destiny that it should be me and Bellamy who scored the goals.

"We both had a tough week after Portugal but we had the courage to put all the problems behind us. Craig and I are men, we are mature, we are team players.
"We spoke about what happened but the important thing was we agreed we could put it behind us and we are happy. To score against Barcelona was great but we did it for the team not for ourselves.
"The spirit is strong between us. We knew everyone would expect us to fail after what happened in Portugal.
"But it wasn't about John Arne Riise or Craig Bellamy. It was a victory for Liverpool."