Riise wants Bellamy to stay
25 Feb 2007 - 13:28:35
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- Riise wants Bellamy to stay
Liverpool's midweek goal hero John Arne Riise hopes Craig Bellamy remains at Anfield despite the much-publicised off-field problems between the pair.
Riise and Bellamy scored the goals that sealed a 2-1 Champions League last 16 first leg victory over reigning European champions Barcelona in the Camp Nou on Wednesday night.
The goal heroics came just days after the pair were involved in a reported fracas during a training camp in Portugal.
But Riise claims the incident is now forgotten and hopes the Welshman, whose future at the club had been called into question, is not sold in the summer by Reds boss Rafael Benitez.
He said: "Craig is a great player and we all want great players at this club. He always works very hard for the team.
"It is not up to me to decide what the future is for Craig at Liverpool. My job is to focus on what I am doing for the team.
"But I would like to see him stay here. It was destiny that it should be me and Bellamy who scored the goals.
"We both had a tough week after Portugal but we had the courage to put all the problems behind us. Craig and I are men, we are mature, we are team players.
"We spoke about what happened but the important thing was we agreed we could put it behind us and we are happy."