Loyal Liverpool servant Hyypiä chooses Germany and Bayer Leverkusen

Central defender signs two-year contract with Bundesliga club

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By William Moore
     
      When Liverpool FC paid Dutch club Willem II £2.6 million for a tall blond Finnish centre-back to shore up their leaky defence, there were many fans who queried the decision by the then Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier - "Sami WHO?!?" they cried.
      That was in 1999.
      Things have changed since then.
      When the news broke on Monday that Sami Hyypiä was leaving Liverpool at the end of the current season to join Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga on a two-year contract, there was widespread sadness at the departure of a player who has become an Anfield Legend, on and off the field.
     
Hyypiä, 35, has been nothing if not a faithful servant to the Merseyside club, and in his last actions he showed the same kind of loyalty, preferring to make a clean break and leave England rather than putting on the shirt of another Premiership team.
      "When the time came, I reached the decision quite quickly. There was interest from clubs in England, but somehow it would have felt strange to play in the Premier League for some other side than Liverpool. That was one reason for my decision, but the main reason was that I want to keep on playing", said Hyypiä, who is believed to have turned down an offer to join Liverpool's backroom staff, although this may only be a postponement of that move.
     
"I will be getting to know a new footballing country with its own rich traditions and success", noted Hyypiä, who is the only foreign-born player in Liverpool's history to don the captain's armband.
      He led the Reds from 2001 to 2003, during which time he collected the treble of Football League Cup, FA Cup, and UEFA Cup trophies (in 2001/2002), before the baton was passed to the younger Steven Gerrard.
      "This was a great opportunity for me. If at some later time I move into coaching, I'm sure this experience will be of great use to me. I am certain to learn a lot of new things in the Bundesliga", said Hyypiä on Monday.
     
Though it was announced before the end of the current season, the two-year contract with Leverkusen, currently in mid-table in the top German league, will only take effect from the summer layoff. Hyypiä intends to keep Germany right out of his mind until the current Premiership campaign is done and dusted.
      "Now I will be concentrating fully on the battle for the title and will do my best in training to be able to get into the side for the last matches of the season. Our last Premiership match is on May 24th at Anfield against Tottenham, and it would be a great chance to give my farewell to the brilliant Liverpool supporters", Hyypiä said.
     
In Germany, his impending arrival was welcomed eagerly.
      "Sami Hyypiä's experience and presence on the pitch will stiffen our young side", said Leverkusen's Director of Sport Rudi Völler.
      "Hyypiä is just the sort of player who can help our team to develop", added head coach Bruno Labbadia.
      Leverkusen started the current season well, but have struggled to find consistency at home - only five wins and four draws from fifteen matches - and are now lying 8th in the table.
      The club are nevertheless seen as brimming with potential, particularly if they can hang on to young stars such as goalkeeper René Adler and free-scoring striker Patrick Helmes.
     
The side has also progressed into the final of the German Cup, playing Werder Bremen on May 30th, so Hyypiä will naturally be hoping for victory and a further chance to play in European competition.
      He already has a winner's medal from the UEFA Cup in 2001 and from the Champions League, as a member of the side that triumphed over AC Milan in Istanbul in 2005.
      In fact the only honour Hyypiä is missing from his collection is the one most cherished - the English league title.
      Liverpool, currently 2nd in the table, have an outside chance of breaking their long drought in this department this season, but it will require a last-ditch collapse by league leaders Manchester United.
     
Sami Hyypiä commands enormous respect in Liverpool, not simply for the strength he has brought to the club's defence over the years or for his ability to score important goals, particularly from set-pieces.
      Though by his own admission he was never a gazelle in terms of speed, he has been imperious in the air, and his eye for the game and sharp brain have more than compensated for any lack of pace, allowing him to be in the right place at the right time.
      In an almost unprecedented feat, Hyypiä went through an entire Premiership season in 2000/2001 without a single red or yellow card: this just does not happen to big central defenders (Hyypiä is 6'4" and built like the proverbial brick outhouse) unless their timing is perfect.
     
At a club where community is all, he is clearly a "team player", having twice swallowed his pride in the greater interests of Liverpool FC.
      The first occasion was in 2003, when the then manager Houllier replaced him as captain.
      Hyypiä could have sulked in his tent or sought a lucrative move elsewhere, but he buckled down to his role at the back and always gave 100%.
      More recently, he has fallen down the order of selection under manager Rafael Benitez, who has preferred to play younger men such as the Dane Daniel Agger or Slovakia's Martin Skrtel.
      Again, he has turned down offers from other clubs who might have offered more time on the pitch, signed new contracts with Liverpool, and has consistently justified his place in the side when called upon, most recently in the 4-1 victory over rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford, where he heard of his selection only minutes before the kick-off.
     
In an era when footballers are regularly seen as overpaid dandies who appear too often in the headlines for fast cars, nightclub incidents, or loose women, Hyypiä is admirably "old school": he gets on with his job and keeps his nose clean.
      It is demonstrative of his commitment to the club and community that one of the most recent occasions his name surfaced off the field of play was when he stumped up £23,000 to rescue an appeal for a Merseyside children's hospital charity.
      Hyypiä's youngest son was born at the hospital, and he wanted to give something back.
     
Hardly any wonder then, that there will be many Kopites who will be chanting his name emotionally if he gets to put on the red No.4 shirt one last time against Tottenham.
      He was chaired from the field by his fellow-players at Willem II when he left them in 1999; it would only be fitting to go out on a similar note after a decade at Liverpool, where he has made more than 300 Premiership appearances and featured in nearly 100 European matches.
      In today's game, you cannot buy that kind of loyalty.
     
As one poster on the independent Liverpool FC message board Redandwhitekop wrote, summing up the general tone of the moment:
      "[A] PROPER Legend at LFC. Unflappable, superb defender. Did his job, and did it well. Bargain of the last 20 years. Hope the fans give him the send-off he deserves."
      Hyypiä is a class act.
      It looks like that £2.6 million was money well spent.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Sami Hyypiä emulates Jari Litmanen as Liverpool take coveted ECL crown (26.5.2005)
  Hyypiä is a Premiership club icon (25.1.2005)
  Sami Hyypiä is not looking to move, despite radical changes in the Liverpool line-up (25.1.2005)
  Back to the beginning - Anfield´s Big Friendly (Finnish) Giant at the Back (an article from December 1999)
  Sami Hyypiä signs on for tenth year with Liverpool (7.4.2008)

Links:
  Sami Hyypiä on the Liverpool FC site
  Sami Hyypiä (Wikipedia)
  This is Anfield, 5.5.2009: Rafael Benitez pays tribute to “perfect” Sami
  Liverpool FC Official Site: Jari Litmanen on his former Liverpool colleague Sami Hyypiä

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