FeatureClassic goal: Sami Hyypia nets for final time in Newcastle win
Time really does fly, doesn’t it?
It is 15 years today (December 28), can you believe, since Steven Gerrard’s brilliance inspired Liverpool to a 5-1 win over Newcastle United at St. James’ Park.
And 15 years, therefore, since a modern-day Reds legend scored his final goal for the club.
Sami Hyypia will, without question, go down as one of the great Liverpool bargains. Signed for just £2.5m from Dutch side Willem II in the summer of 1999, the Finn went on to give a decade of top-class service at Anfield, making 464 appearances, captaining the club with distinction and winning eight major honours in the process.
“One of the world’s best defenders,” was John Arne Riise’s verdict on his former teammate, while Alan Hansen once compared Hyypia to Reds greats Mark Lawrenson and Phil Thompson.
“Hyypia would fall into that category,” Hansen said. “I would’ve [had] no problem playing alongside Hyypia.
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“If we played in partnership we’d play off one another and I think he’d be very easy to play alongside. He’s a real quality player.”
Hyypia had been a mainstay of the Reds’ defence under Gerard Houllier, forming a strong partnership with Stephane Henchoz as Liverpool lifted a cup treble in 2001 and beat Manchester United to win the League Cup two years later.
He was a key figure under Houllier’s successor, Rafael Benitez, too, partnering Jamie Carragher as the Reds won the Champions League in Istanbul in 2005, and playing his part in the FA Cup final win over West Ham United the following season.
By the 2008-09 campaign, though, he had found himself falling down the pecking order, with Carragher established as the club’s No.1 centre-back and both Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel also in the ranks.
But by the time Liverpool travelled to Newcastle on December 28, 2008, he was in the team again. With Carragher selected at right-back in the absence of Alvaro Arbeloa, Hyypia started alongside Agger as Benitez’s team ran amok on Tyneside.
After a string of near misses and fine saves from Shay Given, the Newcastle goalkeeper, Gerrard gave the Reds the lead with an emphatic finish from Yossi Benayoun’s cutback, just after the half-hour mark.
And five minutes later, the captain swung in a corner from the right that Hyypia met in trademark fashion, climbing above Fabricio Coloccini to power a header home from 12 yards. Liverpool went on to win comfortably, with Ryan Babel and Xabi Alonso on target after the break, either side of a superb second goal from Gerrard.
For Hyypia it was the last of his 35 goals for Liverpool, a tally placing him ahead of the likes of Riise and Jordan Henderson, and level with Patrik Berger and Stan Collymore in the Reds’ all-time list.
“I remember them all,” he once said, and his Anfield career would come to an end with an emotional farewell against Tottenham Hotspur in May 2009, in which he came on to a standing ovation late on, and almost secured a fairytale finale with a header that was well saved by Spurs ’keeper Heurelho Gomes.
A decade-and-a-half on, he remains a firm favourite, a regular at Anfield and at legends events.
“From the beginning, I always had a great relationship with the fans,” Hyypia said. “To be honest, if somebody had said: ‘You’ll be here for the next 10 years and you will play almost 500 games for the club,’ I would have said: ‘You’re crazy.’”
This article has been automatically translated and, while all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, some errors in translation are possible. Please refer to the original English-language version of the article for the official version.