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February 29th. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoOn this special day that comes only once every four years, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, also ushered in a special match. This is the 2003-2004 English League Cup final!

While Wembley Stadium, known as England's National Stadium, was being renovated, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff became the venue for England's two major cup finals.

Chen Xi is no stranger to this. Last season, he won three trophies for Tottenham, two of which he won in this stadium! Coming to this stadium for the third time, Chen Xi is still full of confidence.

This time, Liverpool drew the North dressing room, which symbolizes the home stadium. It also means that in the dialogue between the two red teams, Liverpool and Middlesbrough, Liverpool can rightfully wear their red shirts, while Myburgh can only wear white away shirts.

Before the game, there were still many people talking about the "myth of the North Locker Room". But Chen Xi was very disdainful. When he was at Tottenham last season, he faced a strong Manchester United in the Carabao Cup final, and Hoddle used to use the "North dressing room myth" to inspire Tottenham's players. In the end, Chen Xi and his teammates also consolidated the "authority of the North Locker Room". However, in the FA Cup final at the end of the season, Tottenham were again in the South dressing room. In this way, Tottenham Hotspur has gone from being a defender of the "myth" to a challenger. And in the end, in the face of the city's sworn rival Arsenal, Chen Xi and his teammates also completed the challenge of "mythology", not only winning, but also a rare victory in the north London derby!

Therefore, in Chen Xi's view, all "spells" and "myths" are floating clouds. Only strength is the last word!

Of course, being drawn at home in the final and being able to play in the final with his home jersey still gives Chen Xi and his teammates a psychological advantage.

For a match like the League Cup final, fans of both teams attach great importance to it. Liverpool are looking to witness their first title of the season. Middlesbrough fans, on the other hand, are even more hungry because if they win today, they will make history and win their first top-flight title. Well, just to know that Middlesbrough had only won the Anglo-ScottishCup in 1976 and the Second Division title in 1974.

Yang Xu and several international students also came to the Cardiff Millennium Stadium once again to cheer for Chen Xi. First, they are very supportive of Chen Xi, and secondly, because their study abroad life is really idle.

Originally, the best way to learn something when I came to the UK to study was to integrate into the British society, and in Yang Xu's opinion, watching football with British fans was obviously the best way to integrate into them.

Of course, there are still a lot of local fans in Cardiff who are playing on Cardiff turf.

Neither Liverpool nor Middlesbrough have any Welsh stars in their teams, so Chen Xi has become the object of their support. Obviously, in the two finals last season, Chen Xi left a deep impression on them.

As a traditional competition in England, the League Cup is becoming less and less important for clubs these days. However, as the broadcaster of the Premier League, Sky still attaches great importance to it. In this final, they sent the strongest lineup for broadcasting.

Before the start of the game, the commentators were also analyzing the final as usual.

Chen Xi and his teammates are also seizing the last time to prepare for the game.

"Well, I won't say much more about tactics. In the upcoming games, I believe that as long as you can play normally, we will be able to have the last laugh. Let's fight for our first title of the season! Seeing that the players were about to get ready for the game, Benitez also said a few simple words.

"Fight!" Chen Xi and his teammates shouted in unison.

Everyone is adjusting themselves in this way to make their fighting spirit a little stronger!

In the other locker room, McClaren also prepared an impassioned speech to fully arouse the enthusiasm of the players. After a few years with Ferguson, the Englishman learned something.

"Okay, we see that the players from both teams have played, let's take a look at their starting line-up......"

The players of both teams lined up and entered the stadium, and the stands erupted in loud cheers. With the commentator's words, the starting lists of both teams were played on the TV screen...... Liverpool starting line-up (4-4-2):

Goalkeepers: KellerDefenders: Finnan, Hyypia, Carragher, ReeseMidfielders: Luis Garcia, Xavi Alonso, Gerrard, Edison Chan Forwards: Heskey, Owen" Benitez has no reservations about this final, and he has the strongest squad in his hands. This group of players has yet to taste defeat in all competitions this season! I wonder if they can continue this momentum today and win their first title of the season! ”

Middlesbrough starting XI (4-5-1):

Goalkeeper: SchwarzerDefenders: Mills, Eshiogu, Southgate, KudruMidfielders: Mendieta, Boateng, Doriva, Zenden, JuninhoForwards: Job McClaren also played the main force in this game, but he fielded a slightly more conservative lineup this game. He sent only one striker. Of course, Juninho behind him and Mendieta and Cendon on both sides are also attacking players! ”

After a pre-final ceremony, the players of both teams returned to their places and waited for the game to begin.

Less than a minute into the game, Liverpool had their first shot on goal. Gerrard, who was inserted later, received a cross pass from Chen Xi and blasted the ball directly towards the goal.

It's a pity that Gerrard's shot couldn't be suppressed, and the ball grazed the top edge of the crossbar and flew out of the bottom line!

Even so, the Middlesbrough fans in the stands gasped!

However, in the next round of attack, their players surprised them!

After a few passes, Middlesbrough made it through midfield and the ball reached the feet of Juninho, their core!

Juninho took a few steps and suddenly distributed the ball to the left!

After receiving the ball, Dutch winger Zenden directly accelerated past the ill-prepared Finnan, and then crossed before the ball went out of the bottom line!

The ball flew straight towards Liverpool's back post, and Cameroonian striker Joboo, the team's lone arrow, appeared in the path of the ball. Even though he is only less than one meter eight tall, he shows the bounce power of black people vividly at this time. Facing Carragher, who was several centimeters taller than him, Ruobu jumped up high and pressed Carragher to push the ball towards the goal!

In the face of Ruobu's header so close, Dudek in front of the goal could not make a timely save, and could only watch the ball fly into the goal!

“gooooooooooooooal！！！！ Joseph ~~~~~~ Jobu!! Just 2 minutes into the game, Middlesbrough went to take the lead! This is probably something that many people did not expect before the game! I don't know if this is the fastest goal ever scored in a Carabao Cup final. But it was very early!! ”

Boom~~~~ The Middlesbrough fans in the stands also erupted in cheers of surprise. As the commentator said, they didn't expect their team to take the lead so early!

McLaren's face on the sidelines was also full of surprises. In fact, today's tactics were based on counter-attacking, but he didn't expect his team to take the lead so early!

At this time, the expressions on the faces of all the Liverpudlians on the scene were almost the same, and it was unbelievable!

Yes, they didn't expect that Middlesbrough would be ahead so early!

Carragher, who was defending Ruobu just now, was even more depressed, although he was not a tall central defender in the Premier League, but he rarely suffered in headers. Today, he was actually forced to score with a header by a striker who was shorter than himself, which was obviously a big blow to him!

At this time, Ruobu, the hero of the goal, is naturally indispensable for a passionate celebration. He even performed a somersault to the fans.

Although Benitez on the sidelines was very dissatisfied with the situation on the field, he also knew that now was not the time to settle accounts with the players, so he made a two-handed motion towards the players on the field, signaling everyone to calm down and not be disrupted by this conceded goal.

After seeing Benitez's performance, Chen Xi and his teammates quickly calmed down. It's just an accident, and there's still time!

So, after the restart, Liverpool did not seem to be affected by the goal conceded so early. Their attack remained unhurried.

Soon, however, there was another scene on the pitch that made the Liverpudlians unbelievable.

I saw the referee blow the whistle in his mouth and point his finger twelve yards.

"Penalty! The referee gave Middlesbrough a penalty! This is obviously disastrous news for the Liverpool team! ”

Indeed, the faces of Liverpool fans in the stands at this time were full of chagrin.

And Hyypia, who had just fouled Ruobu, was also full of depression on his face.

At this time, there were no Liverpool fans surrounding and reasoning with the referee, because Hyypia's foul just now was obvious.

It's Ruobu again, this Cameroonian who doesn't look amazing, after receiving the ball on the penalty line just now, he behaved like a loach, and almost in the blink of an eye, he entered the penalty area. Hyypia slowed down at his feet and directly put the Cameroonian to the ground, and there was no objection to this penalty!

(To be continued)