Tottenham Hotspur was truly out of luck. They never expected that Liverpool's reserve team could easily win a game and still be unsatisfied, holding a bellyful of anger and looking for trouble with them.

They were different from Bolton. Bolton was struggling to avoid relegation and naturally had no interest in dealing with those strong teams in the FA Cup. They avoided it if they could.

But Tottenham? They had finally reached the semi-finals of the League Cup, and you wanted them to give up? That was like taking their lives!

For a long time, the Premier League title had been monopolized by a few traditional powerhouses, either Manchester United, Arsenal, or Chelsea. It was never the turn of a mid-tier team like Tottenham.

So the League Cup and the FA Cup became their only goals to fill the club's trophy room. Therefore, their performance in domestic cup matches was often more energetic than in the league.

The FA Cup and the League Cup were more prone to upsets, and they had become the main battlefields for these mid-table teams.

Now that they had reached the semi-finals, even if they met the difficult Liverpool, they were unwilling to give up so easily.

Giving up at this time was too regrettable. It would have been better to give up from the beginning. Since they had reached this point, they had to fight hard no matter how difficult it was.

Because they were playing away, Tottenham prepared more fully. Their idea was that a draw was a victory. This would lead directly to extra time, and still maintaining a draw would drag the game into a penalty shootout. Chen Hero's advantage could not be brought into play, because no matter how outstanding Chen Hero was, he only had one penalty kick. Even if he shot through the net, it was still just one goal.

And he couldn't control the performance of his teammates.

Young people, experiencing a penalty shootout to decide who could go to Wembley for the first time, would inevitably be a little nervous.

As long as they were nervous, their performance would be unstable, and they might miss the penalty.

This was the method that McLaren had come up with in the week after Liverpool forced a draw in the first leg.

If there was no way to eliminate Liverpool in ninety minutes, why not drag it to a penalty shootout?

In a penalty shootout, the chances seemed equal. In reality, it was in their favor.

After all, Tottenham's players were more experienced and had seen all kinds of situations. They had long been calm and composed. A decisive method like penalty kicks, which required high psychological quality, was naturally the most suitable for Tottenham to deal with Liverpool.

It must be said that McLaren's idea was indeed very good.

And theoretically, it seemed to be the only way to defeat Liverpool.

If it were Liverpool's first team, this method might not be effective, because Reina was famous for saving penalty kicks. The Spanish national goalkeeper Casillas had even specifically learned from Reina how to save penalty kicks.

But against Liverpool's reserve team... the opponents were much more unscrupulous.

To put it bluntly, the only one in this team who could be taken seriously was Chen Hero. At most, the others were only at the level of substitute players from relegated teams.

McLaren came to Anfield with the intention of dragging Liverpool into a penalty shootout.

But the heavens didn't fulfill his wishes.

At Anfield, how could Liverpool tolerate not scoring a goal?

※※※

In the ninth minute of the game, Liverpool scored a goal, and it was Chen Hero who scored it.

He scored with a direct free kick.

Although Tottenham's defense was very tight, they couldn't completely prevent Liverpool from getting free kicks... There would always be some fouls in front of the penalty area, not to mention those from a distance.

And the distance was exactly within Chen Hero's effective range.

So there was no suspense in Chen Hero's direct free kick.

The football went directly into the goal from more than thirty-five meters. Tottenham's goalkeeper, Gomes, made a move, but it was of no avail.

Chen Hero's style of long-range free kicks combined speed and accuracy, making it particularly difficult for the goalkeeper to defend, and it was also a knuckleball, making it impossible for the goalkeeper to save.

McLaren's face turned ashen when he saw Chen Hero's goal from the sidelines.

Because he knew that once Liverpool scored this goal, all his calculations would be in vain...

This meant that it would be difficult for Tottenham to force a draw with Liverpool and drag the game into a penalty shootout.

Although the League Cup was not like the Champions League, where away goals mattered. The League Cup did not consider away goals, but only compared the total number of goals. If the total number of goals was the same, there would be extra time directly. If the two sides were still tied in extra time, there would be a penalty shootout.

So Tottenham only needed to score one more goal to bring the game back to the starting point.

But that was easier said than done. Liverpool's reserve team had already proved with their actual performance that their defense was very tenacious. Even a team like Arsenal, which was good at attacking, couldn't break through Liverpool's reserve team's goal, let alone Tottenham.

The game lost its meaning.

Tottenham Hotspur's players were also eager to show Liverpool's reserve team some color before the game.

As a result, in less than ten minutes, Chen Hero knocked them unconscious with a head-on blow.

They were dazed for more than ten minutes and didn't react.

When they finally reacted, Liverpool scored again.

This time, it was not Chen Hero who scored, but the young star Carlton Cole.

After Chen Hero attracted all of Tottenham's defensive attention, he passed the ball to Carlton Cole.

Cole shot, and the football drew an arc, bypassing the goalkeeper's fingers and flying into the goal.

Tottenham was not just stunned this time, but completely killed.

Two goals behind, and the first half was only halfway through, what was the point of playing this game?

Before the game, all their goals were to maintain a draw, and the tactical arrangements and training were all aimed at this.

Now they were required to attack with all their strength and try to equalize the score... They were not mentally prepared.

※※※

The rest of the game was completely under the control of Liverpool's reserve team.

Martin O'Neill even took this opportunity to let the reserve team try to play a pressing style, no longer just shrinking in the backcourt, but pressing forward to attack and playing positional warfare.

After all, a team would encounter many problems in a game, and they couldn't be solved by relying on a shrinking defense alone.

Letting them try to solve all kinds of problems would help them progress and improve.

So Tottenham Hotspur, a traditional Premier League powerhouse, was reduced to a training target for Liverpool's reserve team...

If they knew Martin O'Neill's plan, they would probably find a piece of tofu and kill themselves...

Since Liverpool was training their troops, the number of goals naturally decreased.

Everyone kept trying various offensive combinations and routines, bringing their usual training in the reserve team to the FA Cup arena.

Although it was still a bit raw, it was gradually getting better.

These players had experienced the most intense games and had become more mature.

They were no longer naive young men who had never seen the world.

Nothing could make people mature faster than an intense cup match, just like nothing could make people mature faster than war.

In the end, because Liverpool was focused on training, and Tottenham was disheartened, the rest of the game was uneventful and there was nothing worth mentioning.

Neither side scored again, and Liverpool's reserve team defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-0, eliminating the North London powerhouse with a 4-2 aggregate score and entering Wembley.

※※※

"The game is over! The referee has blown the whistle to end the game!"

When the game ended, the commentator's voice suddenly increased.

On the field, Liverpool's reserve team players, no matter where they were, whether on or off the field, even if they had been running non-stop for ninety minutes, were as energetic as if they had just come on the field at this time!

They excitedly rushed towards Chen Hero from all directions.

At this time, the person they wanted to thank the most was not even Clark, the usual reserve team coach, but Chen Hero.

If it weren't for Chen Hero, they would never have had such an opportunity today to actually play at Wembley Stadium!

It was like a dream!

There were many English players in the reserve team, and as English players, Wembley Stadium had a very important place in their hearts.

Who didn't dream of playing at Wembley Stadium as a child?

Being able to play at Wembley Stadium was, in their opinion, a superstar!

It could be said that this was a common dream of many reserve team players when they were young.

Now, Chen Hero had helped them realize it.

He had fulfilled that promise: "I will go to Wembley with you!"

It was this promise that supported them to endure the hard training.

Now, the promise had been fulfilled!

They really went to Wembley Stadium with Chen Hero!

At this time, they had to thank Chen Hero.

A group of people rushed over, lifted Chen Hero up, and then threw him up, caught him, and then threw him up again, and caught him again.

Finally, they carried him on their shoulders for a good display before letting Chen Hero down.

As soon as he came down, he was hugged by everyone again.

"Wembley! Wembley! Wembley!"

"We're going to Wembley together!!"

Such cheers rang out in the crowd.

※※※

Martin O'Neill didn't go up to join in the fun. He just shook hands with Tottenham Hotspur coach McLaren, turned around and came back, and his side was empty. All the reserve team players were on the field, surrounding Chen Hero. He only saw Chen Hero being thrown up by them.

He didn't go up to join in the fun, but just stood on the sidelines, smiling, watching these young people.

It seemed that he would have to pay more attention to the reserve team in the future.

Originally, he thought that the reserve team was full of losers who had been eliminated. They were depressed because they couldn't be selected for the first team, and their training and games seemed to lack fighting spirit.

But Chen Hero's arrival changed everything.

He let the reserve team players find a goal to strive for, as well as motivation.

He led them to constantly strive towards the goal, and finally get what they wanted - this was the most important thing.

As an experienced coach, he had seen too many people who had put in all their sweat and effort, but ultimately achieved nothing.

For them, this world was unfair. They had never given up on their efforts, and they trained more than others every day. Everyone also said that as long as they trained hard, they would definitely reap the results they wanted.

But this was a lie, used in novels and movies to comfort people.

The fact was that many people eventually fell on the road to pursuing their dreams. They exhausted all their energy and were unable to see what they hoped to see, the legendary "bright future."

They became cold corpses who died on the road to pursuing their ideals. No one would be interested in those corpses on the side of the road, and no one would want to hear the stories of the losers.

But there were too many such people.

At first, Martin O'Neill would sympathize with them and feel sorry for them. But after seeing too many of them, he became numb and would no longer sympathize with these losers, because there were too many such people, and he simply couldn't sympathize with them all.

Gradually, his heart also hardened.

Until today, he saw everything that Chen Hero had done in the reserve team.

Just when the reserve team players thought they were also going to become those corpses who fell on the road to pursuing their dreams, Chen Hero appeared in front of them and said to them: Even if I have to carry you, I will carry you to your destination!

He really did it!

Last year he did it once, and everyone could think it was a coincidence, that he was lucky.

But this year he did it again, what else was there to say?

He was such a person, always able to motivate the people around him to desperately improve themselves in order to keep up with his pace, almost running wildly on the road to chasing their dreams.

Well done, Hero!