Emotional farewell as Kop idol Fowler bows out

Rafa Benitez's side are already assured of a top-four finish, while Alan Pardew's men were put out of their relegation misery last Monday.

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But Liverpool's final home game will be rescued from anonymity by the sight of 32-yearold Robbie Fowler leading his team out and Jerzy Dudek, 34, hobbling along behind him.

Penalty-box heroics have earned both players legendary status among Liverpool followers.

While Fowler has filled the classic role of homegrown idol, with a record of a goal every other game over 350-plus appearances, Dudek's rise to the same fabled heights owes everything to two penalty saves.

Those saves came at the end of the improbable Champions League final comeback against AC Milan, as Liverpool overturned a 3-0 half-time arrears and went on to win the resulting shoot-out, courtesy of Dudek's stops from Andrea Pirlo and Andriy Shevchenko.

They value their history on Merseyside and Dudek's critical contribution to a fifth European crown will ensure he is garlanded almost as much as local hero Fowler when both players take a final bow before becoming free agents.

Fowler's return to Anfield from Manchester City in January last year caught most people unawares and Benitez is ready to spring another surprise by handing him the captain's armband for what will be an emotional farewell for both departing players.

Benitez said: "Robbie has been an outstanding player for this club and is still a great role model for others. He will definitely start against Charlton and he could be captain for the day.

"I was just watching the final training session this morning and he scored two or three fantastic goals.

"When you are a young player, working alongside one of the best finishers in the game, you can only learn from something like that.

"He remains a great example to the other strikers here, but all players have their time.

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"These decisions have to be taken and we are looking at other options up front, but I want to say thank you to Robbie and wish him all the best. He deserves every bit of applause he will get."

A groin injury will restrict Dudek to a walk-on part but he will be out in the middle to share a triumphant reflection on his greatest moment with 40,000 fans.

A veteran of 185 appearances, Dudek readily concedes there have been a few costly blunders along the way.

Yet the last 10 minutes or so of his 174th match for Liverpool — at gone midnight in a dustbowl of a stadium on the outskirts of Istanbul — was all it needed to guarantee him a lasting place in Anfield affections.

Liverpool's fightback would have counted for little but for his remarkable double save from Shevchenko in the dying moments of extra time.

It was merely a prelude to the real drama, though, as the final whistle sounded and Jamie Carragher dragged Dudek away from the rest of his exhausted team-mates.

"He was screaming at me about what I had to do in the penalty shoot-out," said Dudek. "I was probably picking out one word in every four or five, because there was so much noise and Carra was talking faster than ever.

"But he kept mentioning Bruce Grobbelaar and how he did the spaghetti legs to unnerve Roma's players in the 1984 final.

"He was shouting at me, 'Remember Grobbelaar. Try to put them off. Make sure you do it, Jerzy'. It seems funny, looking back, but it worked."

Mobbed by players and coaching staff and idolised by supporters, the £4.9million signing from Feyenoord was even immortalised in song by Liverpool band The Trophy Boyz, who released a single called "Du The Dudek" two months later.

It didn't reach No 1, but neither did Dudek after that memorable May night, as Pepe Reina arrived from Villarreal in another classic example of Benitez's hard-headed approach to management.

Dudek can remember the moment he was forced to face the reality of his plight, recalling: "I had Sky Sports News on at home but wasn't really paying much attention.

"But then I noticed "Breaking News" across the bottom of the screen and I couldn't believe what followed.

"It said, 'Jerzy Dudek left out of Poland's World Cup squad'. I froze. I thought it was a joke by the Poland coach at first, but then I saw others had been omitted as well. It was no joke.

"Something changed in me after that snub. I realised I had to go to a club where I might be playing every week.

"I can't imagine how I will feel when I leave this place for the last time. It is going to be the hardest walk of my life.

"I know it's going to be emotional, because I can already feel the tears in my eyes. I'm not looking forward to it one bit."