Just a year after winning the Champions League, the Liverpool squad joined the protests against racism on Monday, following the death of African-American George Floyd on May 25 by a police officer in Minneapolis. Before morning training at Anfield, the 'reds' formed a circle and kneeled to denounce racism and also in tribute to Floyd. The Athletic portal revealed that the idea came from Virgil van Dijk and Georginio Wijnaldum, the two Dutchmen from the Jürgen Klopp squad and two from the locker room leaders of the still European champion.
Very affected by the death of George Floyd, always according to said media, Van Dijk and Wijnaldum decided to raise the possibility of carrying out some collective act of tribute (and protest against racism) to the first captain, Jordan Henderson, and the vice-captain, James Milner. Van Dijk is third and Wijnaldum, also heavyweight in Liverpool's locker room, completes the quartet.
Henderson and Milner agreed and the other players also gave their approval. The rest is already history: the European champion squad dipped their knee in Anfield in memory of George Floyd emulating the gesture that once popularized the then San Francisco 49ers quarterback, attributed to the #BlackLivesMatter movement (blacks matter ).
The Jürgen Klopp players themselves published the image on their respective social networks. The photo, of enormous symbolism, went around the world. NBA superstar LeBron James praised the gesture of the Liverpool squad and showed it in a tweet.