It was like watching a band reform after a 20-year hiatus. They stumbled on stage overweight, sang off key and played out of tune, but the fans went home happy nonetheless. 
As they sat contentedly, football in Australia was dealt a subtle slap across the face. 'Quality of football' has long been the catchy-cry of the so-called Eurosnobs who ignore domestic football while staying up all hours to watch the English Premiership. However, after 40,000 turned up to watch some old pros run around, that argument fell flat.
Abroad, such "Legends" games are usually reserved for testimonial farewells or to raise money for charities. This was neither. After sending their senior team to play three friendlies in Australia in recent years, Liverpool shipped over a team of mostly retired former players, speaking loudly of how highly they value Australian supporters. And the sight of grown men in their thousands with their own surnames on the back of replica jerseys showed why domestic football in Australia will never win over a certain type of fan.
It was a statement that quality of football - such as that on display each week in the rapidly improving A-League - isn't as important as the perception of prestige.