Riise blasts pitch

The Liverpool defender, clearly angered by the decision to play the match in Crete, felt that "It was impossible to play football on this surface".

Riise received support for his argument from Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The Old Trafford star admitted that he had never played on a worse pitch.

He said: "I have never played on a worse pitch or perhaps as a little kid for Clausenengen. The game should never have been played."

Gerard Houllier, already aware that both Milan Baros and Vladimir Smicer picked up knocks on duty for the Czech Republic, will breath a sigh of relief over the fact that Riise emerged from the match unscathed.