As Liverpool and LASK prepare to face off in the Champions League in midweek, the meeting will give a chance to reflect on the life of former player Besian Idrizaj
Besian Idrizaj of Liverpool on the ball during the Pre Season Friendly match between Wrexham and Liverpool at Racecourse Ground
Besian Idrizaj featured for both Liverpool and LASK(Image: (Photo by Michael Mayhew/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images))
Liverpool is back in Champions League action on Wednesday with a trip to Austria to face off with LASK, in a match that offers an opportunity to reflect on the life of former player Besian Idrizaj.
The Austrian centre-forward played for both clubs before his tragic passing at the age of just 22, having shown plenty of promise in his playing career.
Idrizaj was born in Baden, a town in Eastern Austria, just south of the country's capital, Vienna. At a young age he took on soccer as his sport, coming through the ranks with LASK Linz and making his debut at the age of 16.
After that breakthrough in the 2003/04 season, the striker then went on to play regularly through the 2004/05 season, winning that season's Young Player of the Year award for the division.
After making over 30 appearances for the club, he was on the radar of teams across the world. That was only helped by his performances at the under-17s European Championships with the Austrian youth team.
It was a tournament that featured many stars in the making, with France eventually winning it with the likes of Karim Benzema and Samir Nasri playing for the eventual champions. But it was from there that the star managed to make the move to Liverpool in the summer of 2005.
"I have always been a Liverpool fan and it is a dream come true to play for them," Idrizaj claimed upon joining the Reds on an initial two-year deal. "If you get a chance to go to Liverpool on trial then you have to take it. You cannot ignore a trial with the reigning Champions League winners. I would even have swum across the channel just to take part."
Besian Idrizaj of Liverpool on the ball during the Pre Season Friendly match between Wrexham and Liverpool
Besian Idrizaj featured for Liverpool and LASK Linz(Image: (Photo by Michael Mayhew/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images))
His 2005/06 campaign was impacted by injuries, while he made his first appearance in a friendly against Wrexham in the pre-season of 2006. A loan move to Luton Town followed from March 2007 until the end of the season, where he scored once in seven Championship appearances.
After returning to Liverpool, the 2007 pre-season held plenty of hope, as the striker scored a hat-trick in a friendly against Wrexham, all of which were assisted by Jermaine Pennant.
Loan moves to Crystal Palace and Wacker Innsbruck followed, before Idrizaj left Liverpool in 2008. He then joined FC Eilenburg in Germany, before a move to Swansea City in 2009.
Unfortunately, the striker's untimely passing then occurred in the summer of 2010, as he suffered from a heart attack while back in Linz, just weeks after the season had concluded.
Swansea decided to retire the number 40 in tribute to Idrizaj, while the club's promotion the following year saw the players wear shirts with the star's name and photo on them, extending the tribute to him for his place in the team.
With it being 16 years since the striker's passing, the meeting of both Liverpool and LASK in the Champions League feels like an appropriate time to pay tribute once again to a star who featured for both clubs during his career.