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Time for the Rafalution 2004 - Rafael Benítez was appointed Manager. His first season in charge saw him lead us to glorious victory in the Champions League Final in Istanbul, to claim the European Cup for the fifth time in our history. He then added the UEFA Super Cup and FA Cup to the Anfield trophy collection to become the first reds boss to claim major trophies in his first two seasons in charge. He went on to claim the FA Community Shield and take us to a second European Cup Final in three seasons, as well as our best-ever points tally in a Premiership season before a disappointing last campaign led to his departure in June 2010. Alles Gute zum Geburtstag 1967 - Jürgen Klopp was born in Stuttgart, West Germany. He took over as reds boss in October 2015, leading us to three unsuccessful cup finals before finally landing the UEFA Champions League in Madrid last June, as well as to the brink of our first League title in thirty years. Diouf departs 2005 - El-Hadji Diouf was sold to Bolton Wanderers for £4.5m, having spent the previous season on loan with the Trotters. He grabbed 24 goals in 136 games for Wanderers, having only netted six times in eighty reds games following his £10m capture from Racing Club de Lens in June 2002. On the same day, future red Sotirios Kyrgiakos was booked as Greece lost 3-0 to Brazil in the Confederations Cup in Leipzig. World Cup goals 2006 – Future red Maxi Rodríguez bagged a brace as Argentina thumped Serbia & Montenegro 6-0 in Gelsenkirchen, with fellow future red Javier Mascherano also featuring. 1993 - Ex-red Steve Staunton netted the only goal of the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup qualifier in Lithuania. Ronnie Whelan and ex-reds John Aldridge and Ray Houghton all also featured. Future reds Patrik Berger and Jari Litmanen all also played for their countries that day. 2015 – Javier Mascherano played for his country again, as they beat Uruguay 1-0 in a Copa América group game in Chile. Also on target 1983 - Captain Graeme Souness scored one of his four international goals as Scotland won 3-0 in Edmonton, in their third and final game against Canada on their tour there. 2013 – Luis Suárez netted for Uruguay as they lost 2-1 to Spain in a Confederations Cup group game in Brazil, with future red Mario Balotelli netting in Italy’s 2-1 win over Mexico. Ex-reds Alberto Aquilani and Álvaro Arbeloa both also featured in the competition that day, while former keeper Charles Itandje and ex-reserves centre-half Carli Medjani were both in World Cup qualifying action in Africa as future red Mohamed Salah scored the only goal of Egypt’s qualifier in Mozambique. Boss at the World Cup 1954 - Andy Beattie managed Scotland as they lost 1-0 to Austria in the World Cup in Zurich. Beattie had guested with the reds during the war, and later joined the backroom staff at Anfield after a successful management career. Also at the World Cup 2002 - El-Hadji Diouf featured as Senegal beat Sweden 2-1 in Oita thanks to a golden goal to make it through to the Quarter-finals, becoming only the second African side ever to reach that stage. Salif Diao was suspended for this game. Meanwhile, the Republic of Ireland were knocked out by Spain following a penalty shoot-out, after the match in Suwon ended 1-1, with future red Fernando Morientes on target during the match proper. Ex-red Steve Staunton won his 102nd and final international cap in this game, with future reds Steve Finnan and Robbie Keane both scoring in the shoot-out. 2010 – Fernando Torres and ex-red Xabi Alonso played as Spain lost their opening game of the tournament 1-0 to Switzerland in Durban, while ex-red Mark González featured as Chile beat Honduras 1-0 in the same group. Also in action was future red Luis Suárez as Uruguay beat the host nation 3-0 in Pretoria. 2014 – Ex-red Victor Moses featured in Nigeria’s goalless draw with Iran in Curitiba, while ex-red Raúl Meireles played as Thomas Müller scored a hat-trick for Germany in their 4-0 defeat of Portugal in Salvador. 2018 – Dejan Lovren faced ex-red Victor Moses as Croatia beat Nigeria 2-0 in a group stage game in Russia. On the same day, ex-red Javier Mascherano played as Argentina were held to a 1-1 draw by Iceland. 1998 – Stig Inge Bjørnebye played as Norway drew 1-1 with Scotland in Bordeaux. 1982 - Phil Neal and Phil Thompson played in England’s 3-1 defeat of France in Bilbao. 1990 - John Barnes and future red Mark Wright turned out in England’s goalless draw with the Netherlands in Cagliari, with Glenn Hysén skippering Sweden to a 2-0 defeat by Scotland in Genoa on the same day. 1985 - Barnes also represented his country in a 5-0 friendly defeat of the USA in Los Angeles. Barry is born 1935 - Half-back Barry Wilkinson was born in Bishop Auckland. He represented England at youth level, joining the reds from his hometown club in June 1954. He made 79 first-team appearances for us before moving on to Bangor City in August 1960 for a £500 fee. Final caps 1996 - Brad Friedel won his final cap as a Galatasaray player, and 39th in total, as the USA drew 2-2 with Mexico in a US Nike Cup game at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena. 1993 - He also played as the USA lost 1-0 to Uruguay in a Copa América game in Ecuador. 2012 – Victor Moses won his last cap while with Wigan Athletic as Nigeria beat Rwanda 2-0 in an African Cup of Nations qualifier in Calabar. At the European Championships 2016 – Daniel Sturridge came off the bench to score an injury-time winner as Roy Hodgson’s England beat Wales 2-1 in a group game in France. Joe Allen, Adam Lallana and ex-red Raheem Sterling also featured. 2004 - Future red Fernando Morientes struck as Spain were held to a 1-1 draw by Greece in Porto, with another future red, Fernando Torres, also in the side. 1996 - Bayern München’s Markus Babbel and Christian Ziege both played in Germany’s 3-0 defeat of Russia at Old Trafford. 2012 – Ex-red Milan Baroš featured as the Czech Republic beat host nation Poland 1-0 in Wroclaw to top their group. 2000 - Sander Westerveld won his third senior cap as a substitute in the Netherlands’ 3-0 defeat of Denmark in Rotterdam, with future red Bolo Zenden on the scoresheet. Meanwhile, Vladimír Šmicer and future red Nicolas Anelka both featured as France beat the Czech Republic 2-1 in Brugge. These results meant that the Dutch and French qualified for the Quarter-finals. 2007 - Future red Ryan Babel played for Netherlands Under-21’s as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Belgium in the European Championships Finals in Heerenveen. 2019 – Kamil Grabara and future red Mario Balotelli both featured for the Under-21’s in the European Championships Finals in Sweden. On the same day, ex-red Luis Suárez scored as Uruguay beat Ecuador 4-0 in a Copa América group game in Brazil, with Liam Millar and Mohamed Salah also in international action that day. Tony on a run 1969 - Ex-red Tony Hateley scored in the sixth of all seven games of an FA Tour as England thumped Hong Kong 6-0 at the Happy Valley Stadium. He netted a total of seventeen goals on the tour. Four released 2009 – Defenders Ronald Huth, Godwin Antwi, Miki Roqué and midfielder Gary Mackay-Steven were all released by the reds. 2011 – The club announced that keeper Deale Chamberlain, centre-half Steven Irwin, midfielder Alex Cooper and forward Nikola Sarić had all been released. Happy days 2007 - Steven Gerrard married Alex Curran in Cliveden House, Berkshire. 2012 – Martin Škrtel was married to Barbora Lovásová in his native Slovakia, while ex-red Charlie Adam wed Sophie-Leigh Anderson on the same day. David honoured 2012 – Ex-reds keeper David James was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list. Released 2007 - Ex-reds winger Richie Partridge was released by Rotherham United after four goals in 36 appearances for the Merry Millers. 2011 – Future reds scout Jonathan Woodgate was let go by Tottenham Hotspur after scoring three times in 65 games.