Samba legend praises Diao

The tough-tackling 26-year-old has yet to make an appearance for the Reds thgis season but he is expected to play an integral part in the match at Tokyo tomorrow in the absence of fellow Anfield star El-Hadji Diouf.

Zico said: "Of course, Senegal often look for Diouf but they have a number of players, like Diao, who are so dangerous coming through from midfield.

"(Junichi) Inamoto and (Yasuhito) Endo will have to work very hard to check those runs."