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Hold on, persevere!!

Perseverance is victory!

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Arsenal's North London derby at home against Tottenham Hotspur was just a small episode before even the League Cup.

However, everyone was talking about this game, and not caring about their own game… To put it nicely, the Liverpool players were very relaxed and under no pressure. To put it bluntly, they completely disregarded their opponents and were arrogant and careless.

But they also had reason to ignore their opponents like this. The coach had said everything that needed to be said yesterday and before. Cardiff City is a Championship team, the second tier of English football. Liverpool, the king of cup competitions, had unusually good luck to meet such an opponent in the League Cup final.

The strength of the two sides was simply not on the same level. Even the local media in Cardiff felt that reaching the final was a great source of pride for the Cardiff people. Winning the championship? Don't even think about it.

"...Being able to compete against the great Liverpool in the League Cup is a particularly glorious thing for us!"

To call these words flattering might be a bit much, but they certainly couldn't escape the label of being cheesy.

Since the opponents thought so, why would the Liverpool players think the opponents were tricky?

Before the game, Dalglish didn't mention a word in the locker room about how he was only one League Cup away from completing a full set of coaching titles. Chen Hero wasn't afraid of this kind of pressure, but that didn't mean everyone on the team wasn't. If he said it at this time, it would only cause trouble for the team. What if they were too eager and became impatient when they encountered a little setback?

This situation had happened more than once or twice.

To be on the safe side, he shouldn't put too much pressure on these people…

Everything started like an ordinary game.

Then Cardiff City, who had begged for mercy before the game, scored first!

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"Joe Mason! Beautiful… What a beautiful goal! Cardiff City launched a successful fast break. This was their first shot of the game, and they scored!!"

The commentator shouted frantically, because Cardiff City's goal was too unexpected.

The game had started for almost twenty minutes, and it had been the much stronger Liverpool pressing Cardiff. Cardiff could only parry, with no power to fight back, not even a chance to counterattack, let alone shoot.

It seemed that Liverpool was right to ignore Cardiff City. Their strength was indeed much greater.

In the first eighteen minutes, Liverpool besieged Cardiff City, with five shots.

Cardiff City, however, pulled off a surprise attack in the nineteenth minute and took care of Liverpool.

The contrast was too great.

It was as if someone who had been squatting on the ground with their hands over their head, taking a beating, suddenly threw a hook punch and knocked the burly man who was beating him to the ground, unconscious…

The Liverpool fans at Wembley Stadium fell into silence, while the Cardiff City fans burst into cheerful laughter and shouts.

"We did it! Hahahaha!"

"We really did it!"

"We're leading Liverpool in the final!!"

In their cheers, the Liverpool players' faces didn't look too good.

The opponents they had looked down on before the game turned out not to be as harmless as they thought, but wolves in sheep's clothing!

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When the Liverpool fans saw their team fall behind, a terrifying feeling suddenly arose in their hearts.

Because they all thought of that Liverpool team that would be at a loss when they encountered a setback…

This was a final, under a lot of pressure. Now they were behind against an opponent they had looked down on… Wouldn't the pressure be even greater?

The Cardiff people were happy that they had successfully tricked Liverpool before the game.

Many people thought - lowering our stance was indeed the right thing to do! Now the initiative is in our hands, and it is impossible for Liverpool to return to their rhythm! You know, they are the easiest to panic because of a lost goal!

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When the team lost the ball, Dalglish sat on the coach's bench, he didn't even stand up to wave his arms and complain. His face was also calm, and he couldn't see too much anxiety.

But his heart was not as calm as he showed…

His worries were no different from others. He was afraid that Liverpool would become impetuous after losing the ball. He was now even more grateful that he had not emphasized to everyone in the locker room that this was the only championship he lacked as a coach, otherwise wouldn't that have increased everyone's psychological pressure at this time?

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Just as Cardiff City was happy that their plan had succeeded, someone stood up and gave them a head-on blow.

"Chen Hero is now taking the ball on the edge of the penalty area, his back to the goal… Turns around! Direct shot——"

As the commentator roared, the football drew an arc in the air, passed Cardiff City goalkeeper Thomas Heaton's fingers, and flew into the goal!

"Wow wow wow wow wow——!!" The commentator widened his eyes and opened his mouth wide.

"The Cardiff City people were only happy for four minutes! Hero pulled them down from the clouds!"

"Beautiful! Beautiful! Beautiful - Hero!!!" The old Liverpool commentator waved his fist vigorously and roared hoarsely. "He saved the team again! His goal quickly stabilized the morale! At this critical moment, he stepped forward! He is the hero of Liverpool!"

The Liverpool fans at Wembley Stadium cheered again.

They were like riding a short roller coaster, just reaching the bottom, and then being pushed to the peak.

After scoring the goal, Chen Hero took off his jersey, ran to the stand where the Cardiff City fans were gathered, turned his back to them, raised his hands, and pointed to the giant bear tattoo behind him with his thumb. He was using this method to demonstrate to Cardiff City - don't treat us like fools! Otherwise, you will die miserably!

Faced with Chen Hero's demonstration, the Cardiff people were silent. They couldn't accept this cruel fact for a while - they were only leading for four minutes before being equalized. And their trick has been seen through by the Liverpool people, and the next game will not be easy for them…

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The teammates rushed up to hug Chen Hero, and Hero's goal really relieved them. The pressure on their shoulders suddenly lightened - the pressure was gone.

"They are just paper tigers!" While everyone was celebrating the goal, Chen Hero said to his teammates. "We must win this championship! This is a gift for the boss, his coaching career is only one championship away!"

If Dalglish knew that Chen Hero had told the players this, he would probably vomit blood - I worked so hard to deliberately downplay it, just because I didn't want the players to think this was such an important thing, so as to avoid too much pressure on them. You're so good, you've told me everything! Now they all have to play with baggage on their backs!

But unlike what Dalglish worried about, when the game restarted, the Liverpool players were all high-spirited and showed no signs of carrying baggage.

In fact, it is also normal. The greatest pressure on them was after losing the ball. Now that they have equalized the score, and both sides are on the same starting line, what pressure is there?

Worried about not winning the game? Hero is in such a good state today, why can't he win the game?

And our strength is indeed better than Cardiff City, but at the beginning, we were a little careless. Now that we have been hit hard by the opponent, it is naturally impossible to be careless.

So for the weak, if you want to rely on pretending to be dead to deceive the enemy, you must take advantage of the enemy's most lax time and give the opponent a fatal blow. This blow must completely kill the opponent, otherwise, once you give the opponent a chance to breathe, the consequences will become very serious - when a powerful enemy finds out that he has been deceived, then you will wait to bear his furious revenge!

Now Cardiff City is painfully enduring Liverpool's anger.

No one will feel good after finding out that they have been tricked…

Until the end of the first half, Cardiff City didn't even have a single counterattack, and they all shrank in their own half… Oh, no, it was within the 30-meter area, shrinking into a ball and defending to the death. They only had one shot in the first half, and they scored a goal. And Liverpool used nineteen shots…

The dignified League Cup final completely became a half-court attack and defense battle, and Cardiff City was in a mess.

The only thing that made them happy was that they did not continue to lose goals until the end of the first half.

However, when many players walked off the court, their faces were not proud, but tired. The huge psychological pressure has now fallen on their heads. After leading, they began to feel uneasy in their hearts. They felt that they had a chance to win this championship, so why give up?

Now it is a draw, which makes them always have a hope, thinking that they can still make a comeback in the second half.

In this way, they are even more worried about losing the ball.

Every shot from Liverpool seemed to be hammering at the hearts of the Cardiff City players, causing their hearts to stop beating for a few seconds.

Repeating this cycle, it would be strange if they still had energy after playing this half of the game.

On the other hand, the Liverpool players did not show any impatient emotions, nor were they frustrated or disappointed. Although the first half was only a 1:1 draw, no one felt discouraged, because through the process of constantly putting pressure on the opponent in these two halves, the Liverpool players believed that Cardiff City had reached its limit, and a fifteen-minute halftime break could not save their fate.

Liverpool is determined to win this game.

In the final analysis, Liverpool is still a wealthy team no matter how down and out it is now. Cardiff is just a Championship team no matter what. The huge gap in strength and experience between the two teams led to Liverpool being more calm and confident than Cardiff in the face of this situation.

In addition… No one should ever underestimate a team that has not won a championship for six full years, and its desire for a championship trophy!