DOHA, Qatar -- For the 20 Liverpool supporters who had made the 3,400-mile dash from Aston Villa to Doha in less than 24 hours, it was worth it in the end as, right at the very end of 90 minutes, Roberto Firmino scored to seal a 2-1 victory against Monterrey and secure a place in Saturday's FIFA Club World Cup final.
On Tuesday, the small band of Liverpool fans, those die-hards who simply refuse to miss any game being played by their team, had watched the youngest side in the club's history suffer a 5-0 defeat in the Carabao Cup quarterfinal in Birmingham against Villa.