Former Liverpool forward Djibril Cisse failed to mask his frustrations after being taken off in the annual Legends Charity Match at Anfield against Chelsea.
The Frenchman, who represented the Reds between 2004 and 2007, made his return to L4 as he partnered ex-teammate Peter Crouch in attack. However, the 43-year-old showed that he no longer possessed the pace that came to characterize his performances during his playing days in front of the Kop in the closing minutes of the encounter.
Chilean winger Mark Gonzalez had embarked on a trademark mazy run down the left-wing before crossing the ball to the far post late on in the second half. Cisse was unable to get on the end of what was an inviting lofted ball, as he was left holding his hamstring before hobbling away in the 80th minute of play.
After witnessing the former Auxerre and Marseille forward appearing to pull up after this passage of play, Sir Kenny Dalglish resolved to bring the retired star off the field. Despite grimacing only moments earlier and appearing to be in some pain, Cisse seemingly still did not want to come off, though.
In fact, as he left trudged off the pitch, the ex-Sunderland and QPR man made no secret of his apparent disapproval, as Dirk Kuyt came on in his place to see out the game. The striker, who scored 24 times in 84 outings for the Merseysiders, drew a blank on his return to Anfield as the Liverpool Legends saw out a 2-0 victory.
Reacting to the substitution, former Reds captain and pundit Phil Thompson admitted that the Dalglish and his assistants on the day had very little choice but to bring Cisse off. He explained to Peter McDowall on the LFC TV commentary: “Listen, they have to protect the players at this age.”
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As Cisse approached the Liverpool dugout, he appeared to ask the coaching staff why he had been substituted for the closing stages of the clash. Seeing the funny side of the situation as the Frenchman discussed the decision with Steven Gillespie, McDowall laughed: “He’s never changed, has he?”
The 2005 Champions League winner joined ex-skippers Steven Gerrard and Sami Hyypia in returning to Anfield for the game, which was put on to raise money for the LFC Foundation. Alongside the pair, ex-Kop cult heroes including Crouch, Ragnar Klavan and Jerzy Dudek also made an appearance.
On the opposing side of the battle, Chelsea’s Legends side consisted of Stamford Bridge icons Claude Makelele, Dennis Wise and Gianfranco Zola. Forward duo Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen also were present as they too made the trip to Merseyside for the charity clash.
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In the end, Crouch’s brace was enough to separate the two sides after what proved to be an entertaining spectacle at Anfield. The former England striker even performed his famous Robot celebration in front of the Kop, to the delight of the 60,000 fans in attendance.
Following the game, John Barnes and John Aldridge addressed the “first dispute” to have happened in the annual Legends Charity Game as they gave their take on Cisse’s frustrations. Aldridge, who had been assisting Liverpool’s manager Dalglish, reflected: “For the first time ever we had a dispute, Djibril wasn’t happy. We all thought he’d pulled up”
Meanwhile, Barnes gave his perspective, adding: “We all thought he was injured because he pulled up, but he said, ‘I never said, I never said’, I said, ‘yeah, but you looked injured. You never said you were injured but you looked injured’, but he said he was fine.”
