Of all the men that Craig Bellamy could have tormented, John Arne Riise is probably the most physically imposing.
Most know the story about Liverpool’s 2007 training camp in Portugal when Bellamy is said to have swung a golf club at Riise while the left back was in bed.
But Riise has now told his side of the story about how the encounter escalated to the point that the Norwegian found himself waiting outside Bellamy’s hotel room the next morning.
“We were allowed to go out on a team dinner on the last night and I remember Rafa Benitez told us we could have one beer,” Riise told The Liverpool Echo.
“Some had more than one…..
“We had a private room in a karaoke bar. Bellamy kept saying: ‘Ginge is going up to sing’. I said: ‘No, I’m not singing. I can do a lot of things but singing is not one of them’.
“Bellamy wouldn’t leave it. I kept saying: ‘No, no, no’, but he kept on annoying me.
“When he grabbed the microphone and said again: ‘Ginge, is coming up to sing’, I went up to his face and told him clearly I wouldn’t be and to stop it.
“I left and went back to my room. I was rooming with Daniel Agger.
“When I heard the key in the door I thought it was Dan coming back but then the lights went on.
“Next thing I saw was a golf club smashing me on my backside.
“I jumped out of bed and was stood in my underwear while Bellamy was there shouting. He just said: ‘9am tomorrow outside my room’. I got there for 8.45am and waited until 9.10am but there was no sign on him.
“At breakfast all the boys were laughing and when Bellamy walked in they were clapping. Of course I thought about reacting. But in the end I just left it.
“Why? I’m not a fighter. Also I was worried if I did react badly it could be the end of my Liverpool career.”
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