Riise praises fans

Last updated : 15 August 2006 By Al Campbell
The Liverpool end of the Millenium Stadium was full on Sunday in contrast to the vast empty spaces in the Chelsea end. Goal scorer John Arne Riise said it was the support from the fans that inspired the Reds to their win over the champions.

"We had a lot of fans here and with playing for a trophy, we wanted to put in a good performance," said Riise.

"Our fans are the best in the world - there's no doubt about that. We sold all our tickets today and the way the fans got behind us was unbelievable. Maybe that gave us the edge towards the end.

"From a personal point of view it was great to score, but the main thing was to win and to get match fitness before the start of the league.

"They are the champions from last year and the favourites this year, so it's always nice to beat them and give them something to think about. I'm sure the win will give us confidence and we're certainly looking stronger.

"Last season we had a bad start, but from October onwards, we were the team who picked up the most points. We've proved we can play to the same level as the top sides and now we need to keep that up.

"Hopefully the race for the title is going to be a lot closer this year. I think there are four or five clubs who are going to be up there and if we do our job properly then we should be one of them."