Liverpool suffer injury blows to Martin Skrtel and Nabil El Zhar in draw with Thailand

22 July 2009 16:50
Liverpool's problematic pre-season continued on Wednesday as manager Rafa Benitez saw Martin Skrtel and Nabil El Zhar suffer injury blows during a sub-par draw with the Thailand national team in Bangkok. More than 70,000 fans watched Ryan Babel, one of just a handful of senior players picked in a weakened Liverpool side, open the scoring after just six minutes, latching on to Jamie Carragher's lofted through ball and holding off the challenge of his marker before calmly slotting home. Sutee Suksomkit equalised for Peter Reid's team after the break. While the result will not unduly concern Benitez his players, just two weeks into their pre-season program, clearly struggled with the heat and humidity in the Thai capital being forced to withdraw Skrtel and El Zhar just five minutes after their introduction will have come as a blow. With six of his squad late back to training after the Confederations Cup and Steven Gerrard in court in Liverpool on a charge of affray, Benitez's hopes of getting his team the perfect preparation for a tilt at the Premier League title seem remote. He will have been heartened, at least, to see Javier Mascherano appear for the second half one of seven changes as the Spaniard handed run-outs to as many of his squad as possible and promptly fly into several challenges. His agent, Walter Tamer, may have intimated on Tuesday that the Argentine international captain is 'tired' of life on Merseyside and pining for a move to Barcelona, but his display, at least, suggested he is not lacking commitment to the Liverpool cause. Conspicuous by his absence, though, was Xabi Alonso, Mascherano's usual midfield partner. While the rest of Liverpool's Spanish contingent, Pepe Reina, Alvaro Arbeloa, Albert Riera and Fernando Torres all made second-half appearances, Alonso, thought to be keen on a move to Real Madrid, was ruled out with a 'slight injury'.

Source: Telegraph