Why Sami Hyypia is one of the truly great imports
ACCORDING to the latest edition of Four Four Two magazine, there is a grand total of 44 foreign players who have had a bigger impact on English football than Sami Hyypia.
Even the most ardent Liverpool fan would agree that the likes of Thierry Henry, Eric Cantona, Dennis Bergkamp and Gianfranco Zola are right at the top of the tree when it comes to foreign imports.
But surely, as Jamie Carragher has argued on so many occasions, Hyypia deserves to be ranked alongside them?
Instead, the ever popular Finn has to settle for position number 45 in the Four Four Two list, behind the likes of Dwight Yorke, Brian Laudrup, David Ginola, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Michael Essien, Clyde Best, Lubo Moravcik, and Anders Limpar.
Even Roy Wegerle is deemed a better player than big Sami!
Had the compilers of said list been at Anfield on Tuesday night they would have left the stadium as red faced as Paul Jewell after reading the Sunday papers because Hyypia once again proved that he is one of the very finest imports ever to grace the English game.
His wonderful headed goal to equalise Arsenal's opener was the third he has scored in European Cup quarter finals, a record which no other centre back in the continent can match.
In itself, that is a magnificent achievement but it almost pales into insignificance in comparison to the sheer magnitude of performance Hyypia produced on the big stage yet again.
Liverpool were not short of man of the match candidates in the second half but in the opening 45 minutes only one player stood out and that was the 34-year-old centre back whom many people expected to find himself on the fringes of the Reds squad by this stage of his career.
There is a degree of surprise that Hyypia continues to reach such heights but throughout his nine years at Anfield it is difficult to recall more than a handful of games where he has not performed - and if selected against Blackburn tomorrow he will play his 300th Premiership match for Liverpool.
Not bad for a player who cost just £2.5m when brought to the club by then boss Gerard Houllier back in 1999.
It hasn't always been plain sailing though. In October 2003 Hyypia suffered a major setback when Houllier took the captaincy from him and gave it to Steven Gerrard who was becoming a major influence on Liverpool.
It was the right decision but had Hyypia been anything but the supreme professional he is it could have caused the kind of tension in the Anfield dressing room which followed Bob Paisley's demotion of Phil Thompson as skipper in favour of Graeme Souness.
Hyypia, though, simply got on with his job, offered Gerrard his congratulations and vowed to support him on and off the pitch.
According to just about everyone who has worked with him at Anfield, such a selfless and professional attitude is typical of the man and this is why Hyypia deserves to be ranked alongside the very best foreign players ever to grace English football.
A richly deserved one year extension to his current contract means he will now clock up a decade of service, a remarkable achievement for a defender who was written off by some after just a couple of games in a red shirt.
Having played alongside him in so many of those 300 league games, Carragher is perhaps best placed to assess his fellow defender's contribution to the English game - and not surprisingly he rates him a considerably greater performer than Roy Wegerle.
"When people mention your foreign players, it's always your Zolas and Bergkamps - no one mentions defenders," he said.
"But for nine months of consistency, Sami has to be every bit as good as those guys."
No-one at Anfield will disagree with that.
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Its Hyppia's commitment to the Liverpool cause that makes him such a great. He's more of a red than many English players who have played here. And thats what makes him the top foreigner. Henry might have had a "bigger impact on football", but he couldn't wait to run off to Barca. Really every club wants a Hyppia, but because they never had one, they cant appreciate him like a Red can.
I dont think its fair to compair players bethween different positions.
I really dont know any foraing defender who would has as great record as Sami has. He has won everything except premiere for Liverpool. And who else has play this high level for 10 years.
This makes Sami as greatest ever foraing defender in Premiere league.