[lfc-news] Benitez: Stars may be back for semi final - PA

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PA Sport, 1 Dec 2004
STARS MAY BE BACK FOR SEMI-FINAL

Victorious Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez refused to rule out bringing
back his top players for the Carling Cup semi-final against Watford.

Benitez's Liverpool kids earned a place in the last four with a 4-3 penalty
shoot-out win over Spurs at White Hart Lane.

Jermain Defoe put the home side ahead in extra-time only for Frederic
Kanoute to handle four minutes from time.

Florent Sinama Pongolle converted the penalty to take the game to a
shoot-out and the same player scored the winning spot-kick after Kanoute
and Michael Brown had missed for Spurs.

Benitez was full of praise for his kids but added that he would wait and
see how fit his first-team players were when the semi-finals are due to be
played in January.

"We have a lot of tired players and we will wait and see nearer the time,"
he said.

"It depends on the players at the time of the games but I still have the
same idea as when I arrived. My priorities are the Premier League,
Champions League, FA Cup and Carling Cup.

"I don't want to win the Carling Cup and finish 10th in the Premiership. I
want to finish in the top four and win more things."

Benitez was delighted with the spirit shown by his kids, particularly in
the penalty shoot-out.

He added: "I was not surprised. For the future of the club it is important
to have young players playing this kind of game. It will give them more
experience and they will remember this situation."

Benitez was also pleased with Pongolle's contribution from the penalty
spot. Liverpool are in the midst of a striker crises but Pongolle's two
penalties will give Benitez more options.

He added: "It was important for him to score. Against Arsenal Neil Mellor
played well and now Pongolle has scored two important goals. It gives me
more options in attack now."

Beaten Spurs coach Martin Jol will forgive striker Kanoute but blamed him
for the defeat.

Jol could not understand why his striker handled the ball four minutes from
the end of extra-time with Spurs leading 1-0 and then was not cool enough
to convert his spot-kick in the shoot-out.

Jol said: "The defeat hurts but I still cannot understand why he did it.
There was no pressure on him. How can you handle it?

"Fredi is too disappointed. But he knows he should not do it.

"We have to move on because we need Fredi. Of course, it is not
unforgivable but Fredi has to go on. It cost us dearly.

"At every club there is a person like that but I can't believe we are still
doing those sort of things.

"He was not cool with his penalty. It is about coolness. But I know Fredi
and in training he is always scoring penalties."

Failure to take their chances, and Spurs had numerous ones to finish off
Liverpool, was also a problem for Jol.

"We should have been two or three up. We did not punish them. In the
first-half everybody could see there was no problem for us. They played a
lot of youngsters but we did not finish our chances. We punish ourselves
all the time. the difference between success and failure is too thin."


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