A big rivalry and a great opportunity for fans: Hyppia

The July 12 match at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok is a very special occasion for football fans on this side of the world to witness this match in their very own home country. This is the first time the two arch-rivals would be playing against each other in Asia.

What are your thoughts about the upcoming “The Match Bangkok Century Cup”?

Yeah, when you think of Liverpool versus Manchester United, it always has been a big rivalry and it's great for the fans in this part of the world that that we are able to bring this kind of game here and to play it here. And I think both teams, even if it's a pre-season, when you play against Manchester United you want to win it.”

The attitude is that because it's a big rival that we're gonna win.

It's going to be exciting. Probably we will see a lot of changes because the players have just trained for a week and they have to play this kind of game. I wouldn't think that there's a player who plays 90 minutes, so the coaches and managers want to rotate to keep the players safe from injuries as well. But I think we are going to see a competitive game that both teams want to win.”

What do you think of the strong partnership between AXA and Liverpool FC?

I think sponsors are very, very important in any kind of sport and what I've experienced with Liverpool FC with sponsors, the ties are very strong. I think it's very important that the club and the sponsors have the same aim or same kind of values and that matches with AXA and Liverpool Football Club that we never give up and and we are confident and obviously that's a good sign of the relationship that the training centre is named “AXA Training Centre”. So, yeah, those values match and it's a good match.

Could you guess the scoreline of the match?

I hope we see a lot of goals, but I don't know. I'm always very bad at guessing the score, but what should I say? I say we win 4-2.

How do you feel about the game that you played as captain in Thailand in 2001 that was like 20 something years ago with tomorrow's event as a legend of a Liverpool FC who's won two championships.

I don't remember much of that game that was part of the preseason, and I think we were so tired already of running and everything that you don't recall much from the game. I think we won 3-1. I don't remember that much of the game, but I think we had open training before the game that time as well, and I remember that there were a lot of people watching the open training and that was like a surprise for me that people came to watch our training and and it's interesting to see in the game how many United supporters are there in the stadium and how many Liverpool. I don’t know which club has more supporters in Thailand.

Could you tell us your experience as a player about matches between Manchester United and Liverpool?

For us players, I always try to concentrate on every game the same way. It doesn’t matter who is our opponent but I think walking on the street in Liverpool, you know that the Manchester United game is coming up because they start to talk about it two weeks before the game and I said, ‘hey there’s a few games before that we have to win’. So, I don’t think about the United game yet. So I think for the fans and everything, it was more important than us players. For me, it was just another game and I always try to do my best in every game, it doesn’t matter who you play against and that was my way of doing things and I also think that’s the right way.

The 48-year-old Finn played 464 matches for Liverpool over a decade, scoring 35 goals. He led the team in 204 games, the seventh highest in the club’s history winning the UEFA Champions League, the Champions League, the FA Cup twice, the League Cup, the UEFA Cup and the Super Cup twice.

Premier League teams have skipped their lucrative pre-season tours of Asia for the past two years due to the pandemic. “The Match Bangkok Century Cup 2022” is scheduled for an 8pm start at Rajamangala Stadium, which can accommodate around 59,000 people.