EPL

'I hope he was here to see it' – Emotional Alisson pays tribute to father after dramatic goal

By Sports Desk May 16, 2021

Alisson paid an emotional tribute to his father and family after scoring a last-gasp winner in Liverpool's vital 2-1 victory over West Brom.

The Brazilian became the first goalkeeper to score a competitive goal in the club's 129-year history as he nodded home Trent Alexander-Arnold's corner deep into stoppage time.

Touching scenes followed at full-time with the 28-year-old, who lost his father in tragic circumstances in February, seen fighting back tears as he embraced his team-mates.

And he later hailed his goal as an uplifting moment in what has been a testing year on a personal level.

"I'm too emotional these last months for everything that happened with me, my family," he told Sky Sports.

"But football is my life, I played since I remember with my father. I hope he was here to see it; I'm sure that he saw with his God at his side, celebrating. 

"For my family, for the boys, what a fight! Sometimes, we are fighting, fighting and things just are not happening, as with this afternoon here. 

"Scoring this goal, I'm really happy to help because they really fight a lot, we fight a lot together, and we have a strong goal to achieve the Champions League. 

"We won it once and you know that everything starts with qualification, so I can't be more happy than I am now."

Alisson went on to thank players, managers and clubs across the Premier League for reaching out during his lowest moments.

The Brazil international declared that he would not have been able to move on from his father's death without such shows of support.

He added: "I've been away from interviews for a long time, it was a difficult time because always when I talk about it I get emotional. 

"I just really want to thank all of you, all the Premier League, all the players, I receive letters from managers, from teams. 

"For example, Everton and [Carlo] Ancelotti, all the players, Manchester City, Chelsea. I don't want to be not fair with the others that I don't remember. 

"I just want to say thank you to everybody for the support, if it wasn't for you I could never get through this. 

"I'm away from my family since the thing happened, I mean my mother. My wife has been amazing with me and my kids give me energy.

"This is the way God loves us, through people, and we should do that every time every day. I just want to say thank you in this moment."

He also explained how his remarkable winner at the Hawthorns came about, revealing that Liverpool's goalkeeping coach played a key role. 

He continued: "I tried to look at the bench but nobody called me and then John Achterberg called me with conviction and it was the perfect time. 

"The cross was brilliant, I tried to put my head on the ball and I think it was one of the best goals I saw. It's the best I ever scored! 

"I don't know how to celebrate and hopefully I don't need to come so many times to the box to score a goal. 

"Hopefully our players will do that for me and I just have to think to defend and help them there."

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