Liverpool exclusive: Fabio Aurelio recalls Craig Bellamy's "bizarre" golf club celebration following attack on John Arne Riise

Liverpool
(Image credit: Getty)

Liverpool have never been short of big characters in the dressing room, and Fabio Aurelio encountered a few of these during his seven stint with the Reds between 2006 and 2012. 

But while Steven Gerrard and and Jamie Carragher could lose their tempers with teammates, nobody came close to matching Welshman Craig Bellamy once the the red mist descend. 

"Well, there's that story of Bellamy and John Arne Riise in the Algarve," said Aurelio, speaking exclusively as part of FourFourTwo's Players Lounge series – you order the latest mag here. "It was bizarre, actually. Bellamy lost his mind and went to Riise's room to hit him with a golf club! We were relaxing in Portugal before a Champions League game against Barcelona and then the police showed up at our hotel. Benitez was going crazy, but luckily it didn’t escalate further. 

The game against Barcelona finished to 2-1 to Liverpool – incredibly, thanks to goals from both Bellamy and Riise at the Nou Camp. Aurelio admits to being stunned at Bellamy's now infamous celebration – a golf club swing – even if the fans inside the ground weren't yet aware of what had happened. 

"We played Barça and Bellamy scored a goal. The funny thing is that Riise took part in the build-up to the goal. Bellamy celebrated by swinging an imaginary golf club. The fans didn't know why he was doing that celebration, but the players did."

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Ed McCambridge
Staff Writer

Ed is a staff writer at FourFourTwo, working across the magazine and website. A German speaker, he’s been working as a football reporter in Berlin since 2015, predominantly covering the Bundesliga and Germany's national team. Favourite FFT features include an exclusive interview with Jude Bellingham following the youngster’s move to Borussia Dortmund in 2020, a history of the Berlin Derby since the fall of the Wall and a celebration of Kevin Keegan’s playing career.