Liverpool legend chats in Shanghai
Print Edition
In his Liverpool FC red shirt, Ian Rush became a football legend, blasting in a heart-thumping 346 goals in 660 appearances during his two stints with the club — 1980 to 1987 and 1988 to 1996 — making him the team’s all-time leading goalscorer.
But Rush, who recently turned 52, is also scoring big for the Reds internationally, and especially in Asia, though not primarily on the pitch.
The all-time Anfield great was in Shanghai recently and spoke exclusively to Shanghai Daily on the sidelines of a sports forum, during which he saw a deal signed to launch Liverpool FC’s official Chinese website.
He returned to work with Liverpool in 2010, becoming the club’s new soccer schools ambassador. It also was announced he would work with the club’s commercial team to help develop and support partnerships with other global sponsors and brands.
In his role, the Welshman has helped spearhead the club’s vision of promoting grassroots football, particularly in Asia. The club is opening an academy in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, after opening a similar academy in India last year.
Rush credited the club’s history and fans’ close association with it — “Everyone knows the Anfield anthem, ‘You Will Never Walk Alone’” — for its huge fan base across the world. According to the club, it has 23 million followers who watch the club’s matches and keep up with the team through social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
Liverpool was also among the earliest to set up Weibo (which boasts 800,000 followers) and WeChat accounts for its Chinese fans.
Q: Where do you think LFC is going to finish this season?
A: Liverpool should be able to finish in the top four this season. They had a good start, though the season is still open as every team looks like they can beat each other. This will be an interesting Premier League season as there are five or six teams that have a chance of winning the league. There are some tough games on our schedule, like the away games against Chelsea and Manchester City. If we can rank within the top four after January, then I’ll say we are in a solid position for the season.
Q: Who is the player who has impressed you most?
A: Philippe Coutinho has been outstanding since pre-season. After coming back from injury, he’s in great form and has been working well with Luiz Suarez, and has helped Daniel Sturridge a lot.
And of course, Suarez. People question Suarez about his commitments, but you can see that he is a street fighter and I think he was the best player of EPL last season. It’s a joy to watch him play. If we manage to finish in the top four and qualify for the Champions League for next season, he’ll be there with us, and he is working toward it.
Q: Have you read Alex Ferguson’s book? He didn’t have many nice things to say about Liverpool.
A: That’s only his own opinion. He had a whole chapter on Liverpool. To me, it shows how he is scared of Liverpool. It’s also a kind of huge respect. Not many people will put a chapter of another club in their book.
Q: Why do you think Liverpool has so many fans in Asia, or elsewhere?
A: What is unique about Liverpool is the “KOP” and the anthem song “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” If you ask people about Manchester United or Barcelona songs, they probably won’t know. The club has the best fans in the world. I think we will expand our home stadium, Anfield, as there are over 20,000 people waiting to get season tickets.
Q: Have you ever watched any Chinese soccer?
A: I know Guangzhou Evergrande and I saw them winning the Asian Champions League. They might have the chance to play against Bayern Munich at the FIFA Club World Cup, and that will be a great chance for Chinese football. It will be interesting to see what they can do. Also, we just opened an academy in Guilin (in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region), so that will open a new door for us in China. We will send coaches to Guilin and they will coach the coaches. It’s important you are taught properly. It’s a grassroots thing and we will have it done The Liverpool Way.
Q: What’s your prediction for the 2014 Brazilian World Cup?
A: Well, Spain has been successful over the last 10 years, but I don’t think they will win it this time though, as they have too many players playing in the EPL and they’ll be there till the end of the season. Germany, on the clubs’ side, they’ve been very successful. I’ll say Germany stands a better chance. And the other team with strong individuals is Belgium. Brazil and Argentina will also be strong because the tournament will be in their continent.
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