English premier league giant Liverpool beat Shanghai Shenhua of China 2-0 on Friday in the opener of the Port of Rotterdam Tournament, a pre-season warm-up event for European clubs.

In the 12th minute, Liverpool's Fernando Torres scored the first goal of the tournament. In the 63rd minute, Steven Gerrard doubled Liverpool's lead with a 25-meter long shot, with which Shenhua goalkeeper Zhang Chen could do nothing.

Liverpool dominated throughout the match, especially in the second half with the Shenhua players unable to penetrate into Liverpool's box zone. Zhang made several beautiful saves to prevent Liverpool from scoring more goals.

In the 52nd minute, Shenhua had its best chance to open the scoring, but a free kick outside the box zone by Lopez Alonso was confiscated by Liverpool goalkeeper David Martin.

In another match of the night, hosts Feyenoord drew 0-0 with Porto of Portugal.

On Sunday, the four teams will play their second-round matches, pitting Shenhua against Porto, and Liverpool against Feyenoord.

The European clubs are about to start their new seasons in a week or two. For Shenhua players, matches against the Europeans will help keep their form during the summer break of the Chinese super league, which will resume next weekend.

(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2007)