Chapter 1 The Halftime

During halftime, Dalglish still didn't say how important the League Cup title was to him. The score was still 1-1, and either side had a chance of winning, and either side could lose.

He would never add pressure to the team at this time.

On the Cardiff side, their coach was sweating profusely, trying to find a way to win the game.

His strategy was to continue to defend desperately and wait patiently. He bet everything on Liverpool's habitual anxiety.

"...As long as we can hold on until the seventy-fifth minute, Liverpool will fall into chaos! That will be our chance! So during this time, we must defend to the death!"

In fact, apart from defending desperately, he had no other tricks. He couldn't possibly let the whole team press forward and attack Liverpool head-on, could he? That would only lead to a faster death. Maybe the game would be over in the sixtieth minute, and the rest of the time would be garbage time.

Some Cardiff players sighed in their hearts when they heard that they had to defend desperately until the seventy-fifth minute—they had to endure this kind of day for another thirty minutes!

Every minute and every second of the first half felt like a year to the Cardiff players...especially the players on the back line. Because if they couldn't score, no one would blame the forwards, they would just say there were too few opportunities. But if they lost the ball, the responsibility would fall entirely on the back line...

Someone opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

Because they understood that there really was no better way than to defend desperately...

As long as they didn't concede a goal, they would have to defend until the ninetieth minute, or even the one hundred and twentieth minute.

Small teams inherently didn't have much ability, and there was only one path to choose. If they didn't take this path, could they sprout wings and fly away?

Desperate defense offered a glimmer of hope; without it, they would die without a whole body!

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Carrying immense psychological pressure, the Cardiff City players stepped onto the field. Soon after, the Liverpool players also came out one after another.

The second half began with the referee's whistle.

From the very beginning, Liverpool showed their strong fighting spirit.

During halftime, Carragher, Reina, and Chen Hero, the three captains playing today, led all the players in shouting "Champions! Champions! We are the champions!" to cheer themselves on.

It had been six years without a title, which was simply a shame and torment for Liverpool fans. Today, there was finally a chance to end it all, and everyone naturally wanted to try their best...although not everyone among them was striving to win the championship for the sake of Liverpool's revival.

With a championship, their own performance would naturally increase their value, and when the time came to negotiate a contract extension with the club, they could ask for the sky-high price, and the club would have to accept it. Why? Because they were the heroes of the championship, and the team simply couldn't function without them!

In fact, this was a final with everyone having their own thoughts, but to outsiders, this game might become the starting point for Liverpool's resurgence...

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Under a tide of attacks, Skrtel took advantage of a corner kick to score a goal and take the lead.

At that moment, the red of Wembley Stadium boiled.

Cardiff City fell into a huge dilemma—should we defend to the death, or attack?

"Skrtel! His goal puts the team ahead! This is the first time Liverpool has led in the final! Liverpool fans are cheering, they see the hope of victory! And Cardiff has encountered big trouble... Their tactic in this game is to defend desperately and then look for opportunities to counterattack. Originally, taking the lead at the beginning was very beneficial for implementing this tactic, but then Chen Hero equalized the score. Now Skrtel has overtaken the score again. Cardiff has gone from leading to falling behind. Can the desperate defense tactic continue to be implemented?"

Chen Hero helped Cardiff answer this question.

Only five minutes after Skrtel scored the second goal for the team, Chen Hero scored again. He seemed particularly good at adding fuel to the fire today...

He used a close-range shot in the penalty area to seal the victory for the team.

The score became 3-1, and Cardiff had no chance to win the game anymore...

"Another goal! Liverpool has scored again! Hero scores twice in the League Cup final! His goal completely kills the suspense!"

"Poor Cardiff, now they don't have to consider whether to attack or continue to defend and counterattack... Because no matter which approach, it has lost its meaning for them!"

After scoring the goal, Chen Hero did not take off his jersey to celebrate this time—the last time he took off his jersey to celebrate, he received a yellow card, but this time he didn't do it because he was afraid of receiving a second yellow card and being sent off. He wanted to dedicate this key goal to Dalglish!

He ran straight to the coaching bench, then plunged into it, and hugged head coach Dalglish.

"This is a gift for you, Boss!" he roared in Dalglish's ear.

Although it wasn't even seventy minutes yet, Liverpool's victory was sealed, and Chen Hero could finally give this championship to his boss.

And Dalglish's eyes were already glistening with tears...

He had waited too long for this championship... He originally had no hope, but he didn't expect it to be dug out while coaching Liverpool.

"A Grand Slam!"

Once this idea appeared in his mind, it took root and sprouted, and he couldn't suppress it anymore.

He really longed to win this championship, but he had been holding it back until the night before the final, when he couldn't hold it back due to excitement and tension, and told Chen Hero.

Otherwise, it is estimated that even Chen Hero would not know how much their boss valued this "chicken rib" League Cup...

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Chen Hero's goal really shattered Cardiff City's fluke mentality. Now, whether attacking or defending, Cardiff had no hope.

This game had no meaning anymore.

Cardiff City ultimately became the green leaves for Liverpool's great red flower...

In the following time, the game entered garbage time.

Cardiff City's coach no longer demanded that the players continue to defend desperately, but waved his hand—attack! If they could score a goal, it would be a matter of saving face!

But for some people, this was not garbage time.

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Suárez, who had been called back from warming up, knew that he was going to play, so he had already prepared. However, he always felt that he was just going up to make up the numbers—now that the victory was sealed, he certainly wouldn't be needed for goals. Rather, it was felt that the pressure was low now, and it was safer for him, who had just recovered from injury, to play, so as not to relapse.

Although he knew that this was Dalglish's concern for him, Suárez still felt a little unwilling in his heart—he felt that his performance in the FA Cup match against Brighton was enough to impress Dalglish, but he was still just a substitute...

Now that the game had lost its suspense, he was only given a chance to play in the final garbage time, what was this?

Inevitably, his face was a little depressed.

Suárez was substituted on in the seventy-fifth minute.

Originally, everyone thought that Suárez would start before the game, but in the end Dalglish put him on the bench.

Now that the overall situation had been decided, Suárez was allowed to play. It was just that he was afraid that he would get injured again in the fierce final, which would really outweigh the gains...

When Suárez ran back onto the field, he received cheers from the Liverpool fans. Liverpool fans liked this player very much, because Suárez was very friendly, and his performance on the field was also great, so he naturally had popularity in the hearts of the fans.

However, the depressed Suárez did not respond to the enthusiastic Liverpool fans. When he was substituted on, even the loud cheers and encouragement from the fans in the stands did not make him smile.

It was not until he looked up and saw Chen Hero smilingly raising his arm to wait for him that he barely squeezed out a smile. After that game with Manchester City, the relationship between the two had improved by leaps and bounds, and they could be regarded as good friends. In order to stand up for himself, Chen Hero offended all the Manchester City fans and was banned for six games, and even now he may be attacked by Manchester City fans.

The price was not insignificant.

Since the other party treated him like this, how could he still bring up the idea of competition from before? Even the shadow of hostility could not be found.

Suárez went up and waved his hand, and the two hands clapped together—no extra words were needed, this action alone was enough to explain the relationship between them.

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Chen Hero could see that Suárez was absent-minded. He must be feeling depressed that he could only come on at this time to make up the numbers.

He had also experienced the feeling of being underestimated, and it was equally uncomfortable. So he empathized with Suárez's situation.

Therefore, for others, these last fifteen minutes were garbage time, but not for him, Chen Hero.

He wanted to use these last fifteen minutes to help Suárez regain his dignity.

He believed that if he could help Suárez score a goal in this game, it would be of great help to Suárez's confidence recovery.

And if Suárez's confidence was restored, his state would naturally improve, and if his state was good, Suárez would be good, and so would he, Chen Hero.

The "Because of Friendship" talent had been verified many times in the game and was a very useful talent.

After Suárez came on, counting Adam Johnson, there were two more people in the frontcourt who could provide him with ammunition.

This goal rate would be greatly improved.

Moreover, having friends was not limited to making five. Although the task was completed, he could still continue to make friends, and these friends could bring him huge benefits and advantages as long as they could play.

If the whole team were his good friends...

Chen Hero felt very happy just thinking about this situation!

After all, football was a team sport. It was really good if everyone was good. He not only had to score goals himself, but also had to drive the fighting power of the surrounding teammates. Only then would he have a future...