A stunning free-kick against one of Liverpool’s fiercest rivals is a fast-track path to popularity and few set-pieces can match the Norwegian’s 2001 piledriver past Manchester United in the modern era.
The roar his thunderbolt prompted from the stands said it all in the moment, and the strike’s progress through to the final of our search for the club’s greatest Premier League goal is evidence of the fondness with which it is remembered.
Billy Liddell once famously burst the ball with a shot so powerful that the bag of leather caved in, and Riise must have run him close with his own forceful effort 16 years ago.