The Champions League draw sent Liverpool to Linz on Wednesday night, and with that pairing an old story has surfaced again. Liverpool face LASK at the Raiffeisen Arena in Matchday 2 of the league phase, a short drive from the ground where a teenage Besian Idrizaj made his senior debut more than two decades ago.
Idrizaj grew up at LASK Linz, where he played between 2003 and 2005 before his performances at the UEFA European Under-17 Championship earned him a move to Anfield. He never made a senior appearance for Liverpool in a competitive match, but he gave their supporters one afternoon they would not forget.
A pre-season hat-trick inside 30 minutes
On 7 July 2007, Rafael Benítez handed the 19-year-old a start in a pre-season friendly away at Wrexham. Idrizaj scored three times before the half-hour mark, with all three goals set up by Jermaine Pennant. The clip became the kind of highlight Liverpool fans traded on message boards for years afterwards: a shy Austrian forward, barely known at the club, scoring a hat-trick in a red shirt.
Loan spells at Luton Town, Crystal Palace and Wacker Innsbruck followed. His contract at Anfield ran out in 2008, and after a short detour through FC Eilenburg in Germany, he signed for Swansea City in 2009 under Paulo Sousa.
Read also: Man City turned down chance to avoid devastating punishment over 115 charges
15 May 2010, Linz
Idrizaj had just finished his first season at Swansea, with three Championship appearances behind him, when he died in his sleep on 15 May 2010, aged 22, from a heart attack, in Linz, the city where his career had started.
The Austrian Football Association led the tributes, holding a minute’s silence before Austria’s friendly against Croatia. Idrizaj had worn the Austria jersey 12 times at under-21 level.
Sousa, who had planned to build around him the following season, spoke the day after his death.
“He was fighting hard to fulfil his dream and it’s difficult to comprehend why that has been taken away from him at such a young age,” Sousa told reporters.
Read also: Viking Captain Breaks Silence on Michael Olise Red Card: “I Won the Battle”
“By the end of the season all his team-mates could see what a talented boy he was. I fully expected him to show that talent to everyone next season.”
Swansea retired his No. 40 shirt
Swansea took the squad number 40 out of circulation after Idrizaj’s death. When the club won promotion to the Premier League in the 2011 play-off final, the squad celebrated in commemorative T-shirts bearing his name and image. The number has not been issued since.
LASK have not taken a squad number out of circulation for Idrizaj. Kick-off at the Raiffeisen Arena is at 6:45pm local time.
Read also: Liverpool could hold key advantage over Chelsea in race for £100m star
