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• Malaysian XI 3-6 Liverpool
• Rahim 40, Mohd Sali 79 80; Adam 27pen, Ngog 68 69, Rodríguez 76 90, Kuyt 94

Alberto Aquilani and David Ngog, two Liverpool players who appeared closest to the exit at Anfield, have been given public backing from the club’s owner, John W Henry. Ngog linked up well with Aquilani to score twice in Liverpool’s 6-3 victory over a Malaysian XI in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday and, using his Twitter account, Henry called Aquilani: “Our missing link last year.” He added: “Put the ball near Ngog and the goal, and it’s going in. There is too much talk of them (going) somewhere else.”

Since the arrival of Andy Carroll and Luis Suárez in January, Ngog has become Kenny Dalglish’s fourth-choice striker, while Aquilani – who, in terms of injury and performance, has never justified his £20m fee – spent last season on loan at Juventus. With Dalglish having spent £43m this summer on three midfielders, selling Aquilani appeared an obvious move. Nevertheless, his agent, Franco Zavaglia, said he now expected him to stay on Merseyside. Ngog and Aquilani had both been linked with moves to Sunderland, although reports suggested the former’s salary had been the biggest obstacle to the move. Zavaglia said of Milan’s interest in taking Aquilani back to Serie A, to which his game seems far more suited than the Premier League: “The chances of him playing in Italy are now very low.”

Liverpool will conclude their tour of Asia with an open training session in Singapore on Sunday, which, like Malaysia, represents the bedrock of their Asian fan base. Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Hong Kong began taking broadcasts of English football when Liverpool were in their pomp and that support has never faded. On Friday, 38,700 watched them train and the vast sweeping banks of the Bukit Jalil Stadium, which hold 84,000, were crammed in a way they were not for Arsenal on Wednesday night, and will not be for Chelsea next week.

If selling the brand abroad is about staging entertaining exhibition matches, then Liverpool obliged. Their two matches in Guangzhou and Kuala Lumpur have produced 16 goals. That six of them were conceded against Guangdong Sunray Cave, of the Chinese second division, and Malaysia, who stand 144th in the Fifa rankings — between Turkmenistan and Guinea Bissau — might give Dalglish pause for thought, however unreliable pre-season fixtures are as a guide to the real business of football.

Charlie Adam, who spent last summer preparing for Blackpool’s first season in the Premier League with games at Accrington Stanley and Tiverton Town, where he was not asked to provide palm prints in wet concrete or was screamed at whenever he opened his mouth, scored his first Liverpool goal. It came from a penalty, awarded – to the outrage of the Malaysian players – for a foul on Carroll. Generally, Asian footballers tend to be unquestioning about a referee’s decision, but after Wednesday’s 4-0 defeat by Arsenal – and with a World Cup qualifier against Singapore looming – this was a side under pressure. The hosts pulled the score back to 4-3 before Dirk Kuyt and Maxi Rodríguez walked through defending that presented a similar challenge to the cones at Melwood.

Adam will remember the game for the screams for his twice-taken penalty, the noise and the clinging, draining humidity – something that is unlikely to be a problem when Liverpool next play a friendly, at Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire. There, the home fans will not break into ecstatic applause when they concede a goal and the press conference will not be full of journalists wearing Liverpool tops.

LiverpoolFriendliesTim Richguardian.co.uk

• Juventus sign 32-year-old Pirlo on three-year deal
• Signing could rule out deal for Liverpool’s Aquilani

Juventus have confirmed the signing of Andrea Pirlo on a three-year contract in a move which could jeopardise the proposed permanent deal for Liverpool’s Alberto Aquilani.

Pirlo, the 32-year-old Italy midfielder, is ending a 10-year stay at Milan, and passed a medical in Turin on Tuesday.

A statement from Juventus read: “Andrea Pirlo is officially a Juventus player. The signed contract will run from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2014.”

Pirlo, 32, has been one of Milan’s most consistent performers for the past decade, helping them win two Champions League titles. He also won the World Cup with Italy in 2006.

Pirlo struggled with injuries and form this season, though, and made just 12 Serie A starts as Milan won the title.

His signing could now reduce the chance of Juventus also completing a deal for Aquilani, who spent the season at the club on loan from Liverpool. However Aquilani’s agent insisted he believes a deal will still be done in the coming days.

“The percentage that Aquilani will remain at Juventus is above 50 percent,” Franco Zavaglia told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“He has three years left on his contract with Liverpool. I believe that in a couple of days the two clubs will reach an agreement.”

Juventus, who failed to qualify for European football next season after finishing seventh in Serie A, had refused to pay the asking price of £16m demanded by Liverpool for the player’s permanent signature. However, Zavaglia is confident an agreement will be reached.

“Juventus should have paid £16m for the buy-out clause but I don’t think there will be any problems regarding the financial aspects. I believe within the next week everything will be resolved.”

LiverpoolJuventusTransfer windowguardian.co.uk

• ‘I would like to stay in Turin for a long time’ says midfielder
• Italians must find £14m to make loan move permanent

Alberto Aquilani has expressed his desire to remain at Juventus long term despite the Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish suggesting the on-loan midfielder has a future at Anfield.

The 26-year-old lasted just one injury-plagued season at Liverpool after his £17m move from Roma in the summer of 2009, before the departure of Rafael Benítez, the man who brought him to England, led to his own exit from Anfield.

Benítez’s successor, Roy Hodgson, ushered the Italy international out on loan in August but Dalglish is an admirer of the midfielder’s talents and yesterday said: “He could be coming back to play for Liverpool. He could be a valuable asset here next season.”

However, Aquilani seems intent on remaining in his homeland, although with Juventus apparently unwilling to pay the £14m fee agreed at the outset of his loan deal, his future remains unclear.

“My situation is simple. It all depends on Juventus – if they want to, [they can] buy me without asking anyone’s opinion,” Aquilani told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“I would like to stay in Turin for a long time and win a lot. I want to be a protagonist in the new winning cycle that is opening up at Juventus.

“I have no doubt that Juve’s project is a winner, they just need a little patience.”

Aquilani also feels, after 29 Serie A appearances for Juventus this season, that he has finally shaken off his injury-prone reputation.

“I played with great continuity, without any particular problems,” he added.

“I finally removed the tag of me always being injured. I knew I was healthy, that I was just unlucky in the past, but in football people just want to label someone.”

LiverpoolJuventusguardian.co.uk