Kuyt is flying, says Benitez

RAFAEL BENITEZ hailed Dirk Kuyt as his Champions League hero and insisted that the £9m he paid for the Dutchman has been vindicated.

When Kuyt arrived from Feyenoord in last summer’s transfer window, there was plenty of criticism, particularly in Holland, of the fee and the player’s quality.

But Kuyt took Liverpool’s Champions League semi final second leg by storm. He blasted home the penalty shoot-out winner, hit the bar, forced Petr Cech into two wonderful saves and even had another effort ruled out for a debatable offside.

And in the midst of all this, the 26 year-old maintained an astonishing work-rate to hound Chelsea’s defenders.

Benitez also revealed that last summer when he wanted to buy two players in the last week of the window, he was told he could only have one and opted for Kuyt.

Benitez said: “I know there was some surprise at the time we bought him because of the fee. But I was always confident in him.

“At the time I remember wanting to sign two players but we only had the money for one, I just said ‘sign the striker, I want Kuyt’. I had confidence in him then and still do.”

He added: “We always talk about Kuyt in terms of scoring goals, but that is only part of his game. He is a striker who is also a very good worker and he can control defenders around him with his effort and running.

“It is really important to have a striker like him. I know he was tired in extra-time but I did not consider taking him off. We had other people who were injured, Mascherano with a muscle injury, and Bolo (Zenden) was tired, while Pennant was injured.

“There was no choice but to leave him out there. Then I got Robbie Fowler, mainly to take the last penalty, on and we asked Kuyt to play as a winger, and he could do that even at that stage.

“But I knew that Kuyt was capable of such efforts. Before he joined us, an ex-player of mine who knew him in Holland and played alongside him in Vitesse, told me that when he arrived there everyone was amazed by his work-rate.

“Dirk hit the bar, forced (Petr) Cech into a great save and then scored another, even if it was ruled out. The (offside) decision was very, very tight and I felt he was in line. It was important for him to score the winning penalty, a perfect end for him.”

But Benitez accepted he had other red heroes to praise. None more so than goalkeeper Jose Reina, who produced another night of shoot-out heroics.

He has now saved five of seven penalties he has faced in such circumstances for the club, having saved three in last season’s FA Cup final and two against Chelsea on Tuesday night.

Liverpool have also won 11 of 12 shoot-outs in their history, their only loss coming in a league cup tie with Wimbledon 17 years ago.

Benitez said: “Of course Pepe (Reina) was also a hero. He has always been a penalty expert when was in Spain and now he is doing the same here. I am really, really proud of my players, the support was fantastic and the game was amazing. There was so much emotion, and in the end we got where we wanted to go.

“We planned the free-kick goal, we had worked on it and (Daniel) Agger’s finish was excellent. He had a tough time in the first leg at Stamford Bridge. We talked a lot about this and you have seen how he has responded. Jamie Carragher was fantastic alongside him, but I know he feels that Danny has plenty of confidence and it has been clear he is right.

“We worked on how to stop Didier Drogba after how well he played at Stamford Bridge, and Danny rose to the occasion. For him to score the winning goal was fantastic.

“We selected an offensive team. We wanted wingers to get to the line, we wanted to go forward all the time and get the ball into Peter Crouch.

“Bolo Zenden, too, had a fine game. Maybe people do not always realise how good he is and how much work he does. He has an excellent mentality for big matches.”

For Kuyt, it was probably one of the best results of his life. He said: “It was a great feeling to score the winning goal, after Pepe Reina had done such a great job keeping us in the game. Our defenders controlled the game, and the only thing Chelsea did was play long balls. I thought I was onside for the goal not given. But in the end it does not matter. We have reached the final and that is what it is all about.”