Three Liverpool legends recall the club's last three ventures in Club World Cup

Liverpool will aim to make it fourth time lucky when they begin their quest to win the Club World Cup on Wednesday.

They face Mexican side Monterrey in the semi-final and everything points to a showdown with crack Brazilian side Flamengo on Saturday. Flamengo were Liverpool's opponents when they first attempted to land this prize in 1981.

They also failed against the Argentinians Independiente three years later and Santos, from Brazil, in 2005. As Sportsmail discovered from three club legends, these mid-winter adventures never went to plan.

MARK LAWRENSON

(Nunes 12, 41, Adilio 34) Att: 62,000

December 13, 1981. Tokyo

The thing I remember vividly is the fact we were not going to go — and by we, I mean the players. There had been dispute with the club over payments, as there was nothing in our contracts to say we had to play this game but, eventually, it was sorted out.

We didn't fully appreciate the demands of what was expected. We played Arsenal on a Tuesday night in the League Cup then got a coach to Heathrow.

There was an issue with not being able to fly over Russian airspace at the time, so we had to go west to go east with a stop in Anchorage.

As for the flight, you could say it was 'relaxed'. Ted Croker, from the FA, was part of the group that travelled. When we met him at the airport, everyone greeted him as 'Mr Croker' — after nine hours out to Anchorage and a 'few' drinks, it was 'all right, Ted!'

The jetlag when we arrived was horrendous. We stayed by Tokyo Tower but nobody could sleep and a few of us ended up on a nearby driving range at 4am. It was no way to prepare for a game.

We thought it was an exhibition but Flamengo — who had been in Japan for 10 days — had other ideas.

It was a sandy pitch but you could see the incredible touch of the Brazilians. Zico did things that made you go 'Wow!' We were well beaten.

To make matters worse, the journey home was awful. We flew into Birmingham due to heavy snow closing Heathrow.

The M6 was so bad it took five hours to drive back to Liverpool. Looking back, it's a bit of a regret. I won plenty of things with Liverpool but the Club World Cup would have been a nice addition.

GARY GILLESPIE

(Percudani 6) Att: 62,000

December 9, 1984. Tokyo

It was a big plus for me to play in a game like this.

Mark Lawrenson had got injured on the flight out to Tokyo — his hamstring wasn't right after being sat down for 18 hours. He actually did a fitness test by trying to run up the slope of an underground car park at the hotel.

The trophy wasn't high on our list of priorities. We were having a difficult time in the League and the focus was on winning that again — we were going for four titles in a row — but we really should have beaten Independiente. I got sucked out of position early on and they scored with a ball over the top.

We were the better side but you have to give them credit. They took it so seriously and had some top players — such as Jorge Burruchaga who went on to win the World Cup with Argentina 18 months later.

The trip was all a bit of a whirlwind. We were in economy both ways and Anchorage was again the stopover destination.

The one thing the trip was memorable for was meeting Rod Stewart on the way back home. I've still got the photographs.

Kenny Dalglish knew Rod and he invited all the Scottish lads in our squad for a drink with him — it wasn't just the aeroplane getting refuelled!

There were six Scots in total but I seem to remember a few of our team-mates made themselves honorary Scotsmen so they did not miss out.

PETER CROUCH

(Mineiro 27) Att: 66,821

December 18, 2005. Yokohama

I had only been at the club for four months so it was a big deal for me to be involved. It wasn't an easy competition to prepare for.

We had been on a brilliant run at home and kept 10 consecutive clean sheets. I had also just scored my first goals for Liverpool, so I was full of confidence.

When we got to Japan, though, it was impossible to acclimatise. I roomed with Steve Finnan and for the first few nights, we were awake at 3am playing the computer game Super Mario Kart. Jetlag didn't stop me scoring twice in the semi-final against the Costa Rican side Deportivo Saprissa.

The Japanese people were so respectful. I remember we went for a walk one morning as a group and there must have been a crowd of 500 following us.

You would get mobbed in such a situation at home but these fans never came over until we invited them. They were brilliant.

The game against Santos was one of the most frustrating I was involved in with Liverpool. We hit the post, hit the crossbar and had two goals disallowed for offside.

We should have won, as we battered them in the second half, but it wasn't to be. To make matters worse, I only came on for the last five minutes.

Afterwards, we went out for a drink in a karaoke bar. There was me, Pepe Reina, Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, Didi Hamann, all singing Liverpool songs with the crowd.

There were no camera phones, no problems — just everyone having a good time. Come closing time, the fun really started.

There was only one taxi available and, to put it bluntly, I wasn't missing it as we were in the middle of nowhere. With no more room, Didi tried to get on the roof and that is when the police were called.

He and Carra ended up getting chased around the streets by the police and I believe they gave Didi, who wasn't the quickest, the opportunity to spend the night with them! He turned up at our hotel the next morning, still in his tracksuit, and just joined us for breakfast without saying a word.

It was a memorable trip but it is one where I have some regret. I can understand why Mark and Gary both feel it was an opportunity lost, as I feel the same. It would have been great to get that medal. Hopefully the current squad will put it right.