I just wanted to play football, but I became a Hollywood god

In this game, the assistant coach led the team, with Walton serving as the on-field captain.

Walton is actually not happy, because this also means that he is excluded from the main lineup for the battle with Tottenham.

Of course, Walton also knows that with his physical condition, it is indeed impossible to appear in the EFL Cup final.

Swindon Town is a relegation team in League One and is in last place.

They have had a miserable season. Before the game, they were even worried that they would be beaten into double figures by Southampton.

However, as soon as the game started, they discovered that this Southampton team was simply weak!

The Swindon City team immediately changed their tactics and began to attack wildly.

The Southampton team, led by Walton, defended with all their strength and looked for opportunities to counterattack.

The two sides played back and forth.

In the end, Southampton lost the game 1:4.

Although the game was lost, Southampton's position as League One champions remained unshakable.

Moreover, young Ward Prowse performed well in this game and scored a goal that saved Southampton's face.

3 days later.

The day before the EFL Cup finals, the Southampton team took a bus to a hotel near Wembley Stadium in London.

Because it is a top domestic event, Southampton Club also booked the hotel early so that the team can get the most adequate rest before the game.

This game also attracted the attention of the whole of Britain, even Europe, and even the world.

Everyone originally predicted that this EFL Cup final would be a battle between Manchester United and Chelsea. Unexpectedly, Redknapp's Tottenham eliminated Manchester United, while Adkins' Southampton... Eliminated Chelsea.

This is also known as the dark horse battle.

Of course, Tottenham itself is a strong team in the Premier League and cannot be considered a dark horse, but Southampton, a League One team, is definitely a pure dark horse.

This alone is enough to excite media reporters.

What excites media reporters even more is that in an interview with the media before the game, Tottenham star Peter Crouch claimed that Gu Ran was his brother and that he was very much looking forward to competing with his brother. His fiancée Abby Clancy is also looking forward to it.

Speaking of which, Tottenham and Southampton still have a close relationship.

Crouch and Gareth Bale are both stars from Southampton, and Tottenham’s current head coach Harry Redknapp, also known as Lao Lei, also coached the Southampton team. Old Ray's son, Little Ray, who was once saved by Higuita's "Scorpion Tail", Jamie Redknapp, also hung up his boots at Southampton.

So this League Cup match is also very exciting to watch!

On the afternoon when the Southampton team checked into the hotel, coach Adkins led the team to Wembley Stadium for adaptive training.

As soon as they walked into the hotel lobby, the players were surrounded by media reporters and fans who came to support them.

It took about half an hour before the players finally boarded the bus and headed to the nearby Wembley Stadium.

A game like the finals must be played in a neutral, national-level stadium.

Of course, based on geographical distance, Wembley Stadium is naturally closer to Tottenham Hotspur, so Tottenham Hotspur will definitely benefit from this game.

However, judging from the pre-sale tickets, fans from both sides are almost equally divided. The Southampton Saints desire this victory far more than the Tottenham Lilywhites desire this victory.

After all, Tottenham have won the EFL Cup four times, the most recent one in 4.

When Southampton's bus arrived at Wembley Stadium, Tottenham had already completed a morning's adaptive warm-up in the morning, so the Wembley Stadium belonged to Southampton throughout the afternoon.

Wembley Stadium was first built in 1923. It was overthrown and rebuilt in 2000 and completed in 2007. It cost 7.8 million pounds and is a circular stadium with a diameter of nearly 300 meters. The stands are 52 meters high and the world's largest single arch landmark is 133 meters high. , is the largest professional football stadium in Europe.

Wembley Stadium is also recognized as the greatest stadium in the world.

Even the lyrics of the Red Devils' Manchester United anthem are: "Manchester United! Manchester United! We are the red boys! We are marching on the road to Wembley! Wembley! Wembley! We are the great Manchester United! We are marching forward. On the way to Wembley!"

The Wembley in the lyrics refers to Wembley Stadium.

All games that can enter Wembley Stadium are finals, such as the EFL Cup final, FA Cup final, Community Shield final, European Championship final, and UEFA Champions League final.

It is no exaggeration to say that this is the temple of modern football.

Being able to win here, the sense of honor is absolutely supreme for football players.

There are two very classic events in the history of Wembley Stadium, one is the "White Horse Final" and the other is the "Matthews Final".

The White Horse final was the first time Wembley Stadium hosted a football match.

No other game could surpass that occasion.

It was the FA Cup final on April 1923, 4, against West Ham United and Bolton Wanderers.

In that era, there were no pre-sale tickets in the stadium, and there was not even a word for tickets. Fans only had to pay at the entrance of the stadium to go in and watch the game - and they could even negotiate the price.

As a result, Wembley Stadium, which was originally designed to accommodate 12 people standing to watch the game, actually had more than 7 fans.

Before the game even started, the fans were so crowded that they were even pushed from the stands into the stadium. As a result, the stadium was full of people and the game was delayed from kicking off.

The fans started making noises before the game kicked off.

There are 30 people. If you are not careful, it will cause a major accident.

At this time, a mounted policeman named George Scoley rode his white horse Billy and whipped the fans in the stadium back to the stands, and the game barely kicked off.

The shot of Scully riding a white horse slowly through the black crowd has become the most profound memory of that game, even more than the game itself.

The reason why it cannot be surpassed by later generations is that since the first game at Wembley Stadium, the Football Association has started a ticketing system to strictly control the number of attendees for safety.

Although there were always people sneaking into the stadium through connections under the ticketing system, the number of people was finally controlled to less than 15.

Later, after the cancellation of standing tickets and two more renovations, Wembley Stadium now has 9 seats.

Although it is far behind the 30 people at the peak of the first game, the enthusiasm of the people watching the game has lasted for a hundred years.

In order to commemorate this famous "White Horse Final", after the completion of the new Wembley Stadium in 2007, the Football Association of England named a bridge leading from the stadium to the city "White Horse Bridge".

...(End of chapter)