Hamann eggs on Liverpool

By Adrian Harte

All the talk may have been of the absence of Steven Gerrard ahead of the UEFA Champions League meeting between Liverpool FC and Bayer 04 Leverkusen last week, but afterwards it was his midfield partner Dietmar Hamann who was the centre of attention.

Key role
The German international swept home a late free-kick as the Reds won 3-1 at Anfield. But when he spoke to uefa.com, Hamann was keen to stress that the win was gratifying more because it ended Liverpool's poor run of form. "It was satisfying because we have had a few bad weeks recently and have not had the results we wanted to have. It was a satisfying result as a 3-1 win at home is always good. We are confident and hopeful for the second leg now," Hamann told uefa.com.

Dudek defence
The German international was also quick to come to the defence of goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek after the Polish international misjudged a shot to allow França score a crucial away goal seconds after it seemed Hamann had smoothed Liverpool's path into the last eight.

'Great saves'
He said: "That's the way it goes you know - you score goals and you concede goals. The ball took an awkward bounce and made it hard for Jerzy. It came off his chest and the striker followed it in and knocked the rebound in. But these things happen and he made two or three great saves before that so no one blames Jerzy. Leading 3-1 is still a very good result even though 3-0 would have been a huge result for us."

'Attacking impetus'
Hamann explained that the very open game was typical of Liverpool's performances at Anfield this season. "We have created a lot more chances in our home games this season than in recent years," he said. "We always show that we can score goals but we haven't kept too many clean sheets in recent weeks. Fortunately for us our first shot was on target - Luis [García] made it 1-0 after 15 or 20 minutes. In recent weeks the first shot against us went in and we went 1-0 down. Everyone could be a little more confident, we settled better and we controlled the game in the first half and played a decent game."

'Bad mood'
The German midfielder is hopeful that the win will trigger an improved spell for the Reds, who lie fifth in the English Premiership, eight points off the Champions League places. He said: "It is always hard when you get beat. It always hard to go in for training and meetings or whatever because every one is in a bad mood. Hopefully this result can give everyone a boost for the rest of the season."

Race for fourth
That feel-good factor may have been cut short by Liverpool's defeat by Chelsea FC in the League Cup final on Sunday but the nature of that defeat, in which they led the Premiership leaders for 79 minutes before succumbing in extra time, may yet inspire Rafael Benítez's side in the race for fourth place with neighbours Everton FC.

'Top form'
On a more personal level, Hamann's eye-catching displays have earned a recall to the German national team - and he is relishing his return. "Others might have thought my international career was over," he added. "But I have never given up hope of still playing for Germany. I am very happy to have been rewarded for my form this season."