Sami Hyypia
D.o.B - 7/10/73
Position - Defender
1st team games (goals) - 464 (35)
Sami Hyypia, the best bargain in Premiership history.
In the summer of 1999, then manager, Gerard Houllier signed a relatively unknown Finnish central defender who would go on to become one of Liverpool's finest ever players. He made his Liverpool debut on the opening day of the 1999-00 season along with fellow new signings Sander Westerveld, Didi Hamman, Titi Camara, Vladimir Smicer and Erik Meijer in a 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday. This was the first game of 42 that season which saw the Finnish international top Liverpool's appearance charts in his debut season. He also got on the scoresheet twice that year including the return match at Anfield against Sheff Wed when he cancelled out Nicholas Alexandersson's opener and set Liverpool on their way to a 4-1 win. His other goal, and first for the club, came against north-west rivals Manchester United in a 3-2 defeat at Anfield in September.
The following season saw Hyypia often wear the captain's armband and under his leadership Liverpool went on to record one of the most memorable years in our history. He played a major part in Liverpool's treble winning year and racked up a further 58 appearances in the season, only Markus Babbel and Westerveld played more than the Finn. He also proved what a danger he was in the opposition box with another four goals including the opening goal in the unforgettable 4-3 defeat to Leeds at Anfield. His ever improving partnership with Swiss defender Stephane Henchoz was giving Liverpool a solid foundation to build on.
He continued to impress the following season as Liverpool finished runners up to Arsenal, giving them their joint highest finish since the start of the Premiership. Sami made 57 appearances that year and his improved his goalscoring record with another five for us including a goal in Liverpool's most resounding victory of the season - 6-0 against Ipswich at Portman Road. During these 57 games he started an incredible run of appearing in every minute of every European game between November 2001 and February 2006. The run started in the Nou Camp against Barcelona and didn't come to an end until Benfica in 2006. The run did include a fantastic 2004/05 European campaign which resulted in a Champions League winners medal, but I'll come back to that later.
2002-03 saw Hyypia once again top the appearance but this time as the permanent captain as Jamie Redknapp was sold to Tottenham in the summer. A further 56 games were topped off with a Worthington Cup winners medal and what better way than to beat United in the final. His reputation of being a goalscoring defender was enhanced even further with another five goals, probably the most important was the Champions League deciding match with Chelsea on the final day of the season but even Sami's goal wasn't enough to win us the match.
In, what would become, Houllier's final year Hyypia once again topped the charts for appearances. He racked up another 50 plus games for the fourth consecutive year and again got himself on the scoresheet five times. Although even with his best signing playing fantastically well, it wasn't enough for Houllier to keep his job as Liverpool manager. The same season also same Sami hand over the armband to Steven Gerrard, an event that Sami did, as he always did, with minimal fuss
The new season saw, Spaniard, Rafa Benitez arrive on Merseyside to take the hot seat at Anfield and he instantly made an impact in the transfer market. But it was clear that our number 4 was going to play a big part in Rafa's side. However, as big a part as he played, he didn't manage to make 50 games for a long time. He had to make do with a mere 49 games. It was a very poor league campaign from Liverpool on the whole while in Europe we were once again a force and thanks to nobody more than Sami Hyypia. His consistently high leveled defensive performances along side his new defensive partner Jamie Carragher were the foundation on which our fifth European Cup was won. His finest hours came in the quarter finals against Juventus. He scored a fantastic goal in the first leg at Anfield to give us a 2-0 lead and then in the return leg with the score nicely balanced at 2-1 the big Finn put in a man of the match performance and kept the Italians quiet throughout.
In Benitez' second year Hyypia was back to topping the charts for appearances as he made 59 almost faultless performances which saw Liverpool lift the FA Cup for the 7th time as well as finish with our highest points total in the Premiership. He continued his record of scoring in every Premiership season he'd played in as well with another goal, this time against Wigan. The same season saw a new central defender in Daniel Agger sign for the club.
It was this Danish centre half, as well as his old age catching up on him, who displaced Sami in the side the following season. However Sami still managed 29 appearances with another 3 goals and his record of scoring in the Premiership continued. It was expected that this would be Hyypia's last year but he was, however, given another year's extension which he happily signed. And just as well he did as Agger found himself injured for almost all of the season which gave Hyypia another great year to his CV. He played in 44 games that year and would have played in more had it not been for the impressive displays from January signing Martin Skrtel. But he still managed to do enough to earn him another year contract, giving him ten years at Anfield.
During his tenth year he made 19 appearances including a very tearful and heartfelt game at Anfield on the final day against Spurs which saw Sami finally bow out as a Liverpool player. It also included a very late inclusion to the stating line up at Old Trafford in which he rolled back the years and gave a fantastic performance as Liverpool ran out clear 4-1 winners.
He has been the model professional for this club and one every single Liverpool fan will always hold highly. He'll go down in the history books for this club and rightly so. He'll be mentioned in the same breath as the rest of our legendary players, and again, rightly so. His playing career with Liverpool may be over, but hopefully his coaching career with this great club can start very soon and be just as successful as his playing days.
One thing that will never be over though is our love affair with the legend that is Sami Hyypia.
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