Liverpool veteran defender Joel Matip confirms retirement from football
Former Liverpool defender Joel Matip confirmed his retirement from football on Saturday.
Liverpool will face their Merseyside neighbour on Sunday in what will be their first Premier League game since its resumption early this week.
Liverpool footballer Georginio Wijnaldum has admitted that playing at empty stadiums will not help the players as they will not get the “extra boost” that a strong crowd provides. The Reds will face their Merseyside neighbour on Sunday in what will be their first Premier League game since its resumption early this week.
“Now we have to help each other even more as players. Normally, we also have the crowd, who give us an extra boost and let us go again, give us confidence and everything. We do not have that now, so we have to help each other extra in this time and have to do it together,” the official website of Liverpool FC quoted Wijnaldum as saying.
“We know it is not possible for the crowd to come, so we already dealt with that situation in the games we played. It is still strange, but we have to deal with it,” he added.
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Wijnaldum also said that the gradual resumption of football across the globe was a good thing for everyone. “Now you can play competitive games again, so it is a really good feeling for all of us. I do not think it is only good for us as players but also for the people around the world, because everyone wants to watch football. So I think it is a good time for everyone,” he pointed.
Meanwhile, Liverpool will be aiming to restart their season on a positive step and take the remaining few steps to their first Premier League glory in 30 years as soon as possible. Manager Jurgen Klopp had admitted the players are “ready to go”.
“We are ready to go, but we have to be ready to face problems because there will be problems. It is like it always was, it’s not new. In a football game, you have a plan for it and in the game, you have to force it through, or you have to adapt to another one or whatever. It will be exciting,” the Champions League winning manager had said.
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