1981 Toyota Cup - Liverpool v Flamengo

There was a huge contrast between how the two sides approached the 1981 Toyota Cup. For Flamengo it was the biggest match in the Clubs history and their first attempt at become World Football Champions. The Brazilian Club was trying to shake off the stigma of only being able to win major Titles in the Maracana, with many of their previous successes coming at the home of Brazilian Football.

As was typical of most European sides, Liverpool approached the game with less enthusiasm than their South American counterparts. Liverpool had twice before turned down the opportunity of playing for the trophy in the 70's when the format was a two legged affair, so this would represent the English sides first tilt at winning the prize on offer.

Flamengo were not only playing for the Title of World Champions, but also to honour former Brazil and Flamengo coach Claudio Coutinho, who had died in a scuba diving accident at the age of 42, only days before the match.

Liverpool’s preparations were hardly ideal, they were unusually struggling in the English League, lying in mid-table, and had only arrived in Japan 2 days before the game and suffering from jet lag.
The long journey was made worse by the fact that it was not possible to fly over Russian air space so the flight had to go via Alaska.
Graeme Souness recalls how players got drunk on the flight there and could not sleep on arrival. Unable to sleep in the early hours of the morning Souness and Kenny Dalglish wandered out of the hotel and stumbled across a 24hr golf facility... where they would find other members of the team.
There was doubt if Liverpool would even make the match as there was a dispute among the players as their contracts did not a trip to Tokyo for this match, the disput was eventually settled.
The English side were also fearful that the match would descend into a war, typical of the violent clashes in the same competition in previous years.

Perhaps playing on Liverpool's minds was the fact that Flamengo had been involved in some brutal matches on their way to winning the Copa Libertadores. In the Play Off in the Final played less than a month prior to the match in Tokyo, there had been 5 sendings off (2 for Flamengo) and earlier in the Tournament Flamengo won another Play Off after the match was abandoned as Brazilian opponents Atletico Mineiro had 5 men sent off.

Prior to the match Liverpool Manager Bob Paisley was keen to avoid such trouble, telling his side to avoid trouble at all costs. Liverpool defender Phil Thompson confirmed that they were nervous about getting into trouble which, led to Flamengo having too much space to show their ability, although this was a strange tactic seeing as the Liverpool side had plenty of players who were normally up for a battle, none more so than Midfielder Graeme Souness.
Liverpool needn’t have worried about any overly physical play from the Brazilians, Flamengo were too busy getting rings run round them to be concerned about kicking their opponents. The first real attack of danger saw the ball end up in the Liverpool net. Zico lofted a ball over the Liverpool defence which Phil Thompson misjudged and Nunes nipped in to put Flamengo ahead after just 12 minutes.
Surprisingly there was little in the way of  response from the European Champions as Flamengo continued to press forward, although the one Liverpool player that did stand out on the day, debutant Craig Johnston did threaten, but dragged his shot wide.
On 34 minutes Flamengo doubled their lead after Adilio capitalised on a goalkeeping error from a Zico free-kick. The Brazilian side had won a free-kick in a dangerous position after Souness had gone through the back of Tita, seemingly forgetting the words of his Manager prior to the game regarding trouble.

The Liverpool Keeper Grobbelaar made a mess of the free-kick spilling the ball in the 6 yard, and although he almost made up for his error by saving the rebound, Adilio was following up to bundle the ball into the net. Even with a 2 goal lead, there was no evidence of Flamengo resting on their laurels as they continued to attack, with Zico involved in most of the good work.

Some sloppy play almost let Liverpool in, with McDermott forcing Flamengo Keeper Raul into a save, which gave Liverpool some hope that all was not lost yet.
Just before half time Flamengo effectively settled the game, this time they did not need a helping hand from the Liverpool defence, and once again the creator was Zico. The Brazilian master played in Nunes who produced a clinical finish into the far corner.

Having been embarrassed by conceding 3 first half goals, in contrast to his earlier instructions Paisley demanded more commitment from his side, and although Liverpool did improve in the 2nd half, the damage had already been done.
Liverpool’s experienced players just didn’t turn up. On a barren bobbly pitch that was in direct contrast to the talent gracing it Flamengo had outclassed their European opponents, finding a flat patch of grass on the pitch was as difficult as finding a Liverpool player who did himself justice (Johnston excluded).

Bob Paisley would later praise the Brazilians, saying Flamengo needed only 1 touch where Liverpool took 3 touches, other post match views focused on how poor Liverpool were, Ray Kennedy who appeared in the Liverpool midfield in Tokyo said it was “embarrassing”, while Flamengo Coach was touch more diplomatic saying that Liverpool were “Disappointing”.
There were some excuses trotted about from the English, pointing to the poor state of the pitch which gave their opponents an advantage, due to their superior technique, and the fact that the Liverpool side were exposed by their desire to avoid an overly physical match, but there was little doubt that they were beaten by the better side on the day.