Liverpool fans are not shy about reminding everybody that they have won the European Cup five times. The Reds are Britain's most successful club in continental competition, having also claimed three UEFA Cups and three UEFA Super Cups.
However, the Anfield outfit have not won every prize going. On this day in 2005 they embarked on an ultimately unsuccessful quest to conquer the globe.
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Their dramatic penalty-shootout win over AC Milan in Istanbul 204 days earlier had earned Liverpool a place at the relaunched FIFA Club World Cup in Japan. As Europe's sole representative, they entered the competition at the semi-final stage, where their opponents were CONCACAF Champions' Cup winners Deportivo Saprissa.
The Costa Rican outfit had reached the last four courtesy of a 1-0 win over Oceania Club Championship winners Sydney FC. However, Saprissa would prove to be no match for Rafael Benitez's Liverpool, who were third in the Premier League with 31 points from 15 games.
In front of 43,902 fans, including over 1,000 travelling Liverpudlians, at Yokohama's International Stadium, the English side broke the deadlock after just three minutes.
Djibril Cisse teed up Peter Crouch from John Arne Riise's cross, and the 6'7" forward volleyed crisply into the bottom corner of the net to register his third goal for the Merseysiders.
Crouch and Riise were involved again as Liverpool doubled their advantage just after the half-hour mark. The Norwegian collected Crouch's flick-on and crossed to Steven Gerrard, who unleashed a stunning first-time strike that flashed past goalkeeper Jose Porras from the edge of the 18-yard box.
After arriving at Anfield in a £7m move from Southampton in the summer, Crouch had failed to score in his first 18 matches for Liverpool. However, he made it four goals in four games when he capitalised on a defensive lapse to slot home from just inside the penalty area to complete a 3-0 rout on 58 minutes.
Liverpool: Pepe Reina, Jamie Carragher, Djimi Traore, Sami Hyypia (Luis Garcia 72) Josemi, Steven Gerrard (Florent Sinama-Pongolle 64), John Arne Riise, Xabi Alonso (Dietmar Hamann 79), Mohamed Sissoko, Peter Crouch.
Saprissa: Jose Porras, Jervis Johnson Drummond, Victor Flores Cordero, Ronald Gonzalez, Gabriel Segura Badilla, Tray Bennett (Alonso Calderon Solis 46), Walter Centeno, Cristian Navarro Bolanos, Randall Azofeifa, Alvaro Alberto Chacon Saborio (Allan Aleman 83), Ronald Gomez (Jervis Drummond 76).
Liverpool went on to lose the final to South American champions Sao Paulo on December 18, thanks to a 27th-minute goal from 24-time Brazil international Mineiro.
Robert Summerscales
