Four players give Andoni Iraola pre-season Liverpool boost after World Cup shock
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SportFootballLiverpool FCLiverpool are close to beginning their pre-season preparations and new head coach Andoni Iraola could have more players available than initially expectedAndoni Iraola could have at least four more players available for Liverpool's tour of the United States after another dramatic day at the World Cup.The Reds saw all eight of their representatives at the tournament reach the knockout stages following the conclusion of the group stage of the weekend. However, half of those were subsequently eliminated during the second day of round of 32 matches.Florian Wirtz created an equaliser for Kai Havertz but had been substituted by the time Germany were eventually beaten on penalties by unfancied Paraguay in Boston on Monday after a 1-1 draw.A few hours later, Cody Gakpo scored his third goal of the tournament to put Holland ahead against Morocco in Monterrey, only for the African side to equalise during injury time and then win on penalties against a Dutch side that also had Liverpool team-mates Virgil van Dijk and Ryan Gravenberch in the starting line-up.Liverpool are expected to give players involved at the World Cup three weeks off after their commitments with their national team have been concluded before asking them to return for pre-season training.The Reds begin life under Iraola at the AXA Training Centre on Monday, July 13 before flying to the United States for their three-game tour the following week.And their early elimination from the World Cup means Wirtz, Gakpo, Van Dijk and Gravenberch will most likely report back for training in the fourth week of July - opening up the possibility of them joining up with the squad in the US.Earlier on Monday, Alisson Becker had helped Brazil come from behind to beat Japan to reach the last 16.Alexander Isak is in action for Sweden against France on Tuesday evening, while new signing Victor Munoz's Spain take on Austria on Thursday and Alexis Mac Allister's Argentina play Cape Verde on Friday.FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE!
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