The Prince of Inter Milan starts with Brother Xiaosa

Chapter 48 League Cup Final

At three o'clock in the afternoon on February 2th, local time in the UK, the final of the 24-2007 English League Cup began at Wembley Stadium.

Chelsea have won the League Cup four times. This is their ninth cup final in eleven years and their third in the past four seasons.

The last time Tottenham won the League Cup was in 1999.

Last season's League Cup final, Chelsea defeated Arsenal at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium to win the championship. This year's League Cup final returns to the renovated Wembley Stadium, so Chelsea and Tottenham both hope they can win this trophy.

For Chelsea coach Grant, this will be the first championship honor he has led the Blues to strive for.

Tottenham coach Ramos, who has just taken office, won the Europa League twice while coaching Sevilla, as well as the Copa del Rey.

Naturally, Levy invited him here hoping to take advantage of Ramos's luck in winning the cup and try to win the English League Cup.

"Hey, Leo, do you think we can win today?"

"Oh, I didn't know. It's hard to tell when you look at everyone like this."

After Tottenham's coaching change, the team was in chaos. The newly appointed head coach Ramos was not able to quickly win the trust of all the players on the team.

This situation is also reflected in the results of previous games.

But today is different. This is a game about the final championship. Despite the poor morale, all members of the Lily Legion will definitely go all out.

In this game, Chelsea started in a 4-3-3 starting lineup, with Drogba at the center and Phillips and Anelka on the left and right.

Lampard leads the midfield, with Essien and Mikel partnering as a defensive midfielder.

Left back Bridge, right back Belletti, center back Carvalho and Terry, Cech guard the door.

Stars such as Joe Cole and Ballack sat on the bench.

Tottenham still continued the 442 used by Martin Jol.

Berbatov and Robbie Keane join forces up front.

Gareth Bale and Malbranque are on the left and right wings, and Leo and Janas are in the midfield.

Left back Alan Huton, right back Chimbanda, and center back Kaboul are injured. Woodgate replaced the out-of-form Michael Dawson and Ledley King to partner with goalkeeper Robinson.

Compared with Tottenham Hotspur, who played all the main players, Chelsea rotated some players.

Perhaps in Grant's view, it does not take too much effort to deal with such a turbulent Tottenham team.

Only 20 seconds into the game, Chelsea defender Belletti made a low-level error in a cross pass from the backcourt. Robbie Keane stole the ball and rushed into the penalty area and fired a powerful shot!
  Blues defender John Terry promptly cleared the ball out of the baseline, and Tottenham won the first corner kick of the game.

Then White Lily took a corner kick. Berbatov's header from the front point overwhelmed the defenders and scrambled to get the header to his teammates. Ledley King's close-range shot was too hard and hit the ball high.

Immediately afterwards, Chelsea's goal kick went to the frontcourt, Woodgate intercepted the ball, and Tottenham quickly counterattacked.

Leo dribbled the ball forward from the center and met Essien's defense head-on.

There is no point in unnecessary physical confrontation. Leo still has some pressure. He distributed the ball to the left before Essien could grab it.

After receiving the ball, Bell broke through with the ball at high speed, changed direction and accelerated to get rid of Belletti's defense before crossing the middle.

Janus' long shot in front of the penalty area slightly missed the right post of the goal.

After the opening, Tottenham actually overpowered Chelsea!
  "The underdog will win!"

Leo looked at his teammates who were full of fighting spirit, and this sentence flashed in his mind.

From this point of view, they have no chance of defeating their opponents and winning the championship!

After a moment of confusion, Essien and Mikel cooperated to steal the ball from Leo's feet. Lampard made a direct pass and Drogba made the ball. Wright-Phillips failed to receive the pass from his teammate and was cleared first by Ledley King.

"Saved" by the captain, Leo's mistake almost caused the team to lose the ball.

But facing the defensive intensity of Essinga Mikel, it is not surprising that Leo is a little uncomfortable.

Malbranque made a pass from the right, and Berbatov's header near the penalty spot missed the back post and missed the baseline.

A few minutes later, Leo once again took the ball against Essien. Of course, there is no doubt about Ghana's defensive ability.

Leo's continuous shaking and changing center of gravity still failed to deceive the opponent. He had no choice but to jump with his right foot and the ball flew over Essien's head.

Taking advantage of the situation, Leo was about to pass by the Chelsea midfielder to complete the pass. Essien made a fierce tackle from the side and knocked him to the ground.

The ball can pass, but people can't.

The referee Mark Halsey was not far from the "site of the incident" and could clearly see Essien's foul action.

To be honest, a red card for such a behind-the-back foul is not excessive at all, but Halsey hesitated and only took out a yellow card as a warning.

There were boos at Wembley Stadium. Tottenham fans were dissatisfied that the referee only gave a yellow card and the penalty was too light. Chelsea supporters were also dissatisfied. Essien's booking so early was definitely detrimental to their defense in the midfield.

Bell pulled Leo up from the ground, and he must have taken the free kick at this position.

"Are you sure?"

Bell smiled and nodded, "Just watch!"

This means that the Welshman is going to attack the goal directly. If he is going to pass the ball, he will quietly tell Leo where he is going to pass the ball.

Cech nervously directed his teammates to form a wall in front of him. They also knew that Bell had a free kick.

He hit the ball hard with his left foot, and the ball drew a beautiful arc and flew away from the top of the wall. It dropped slightly and accurately hit the upper left corner of the goal!

Cech, who flew to save, didn't even touch the edge of the ball.

Gareth Bale scored directly from a free kick!

One to zero! Tottenham took the lead in breaking the deadlock on the field!

Bell abandoned his teammates and sprinted to the sidelines, recreating his golf swing celebration again.

The Tottenham fans in the stands responded enthusiastically.

"Nice cum!"

Blues coach Grant's face suddenly became very ugly, and he ran to the sidelines and shouted loudly to the court.

"Don't take any chances in dangerous areas! Don't give them a free kick!
  attack! Use offense to create pressure on them! "

Chelsea then kicked off, and soon the ball returned to Tottenham.

Chimbanda broke through from the right and created a corner kick opportunity. Tottenham's corner kick went to the front point, and Woodgate's header hit the crossbar and popped out!

Then Leo received the ball in the frontcourt, and Chelsea's Essien forced him over.

The Ghanaian, who was carrying a yellow card, felt much less oppressive in an instant. It stands to reason that he wanted to scare Leo with a vicious foul.

An ordinary young player would definitely be panicking, as everyone is afraid of getting injured.

But Leo was different. He didn't care at all and even dared to provoke the other party again.

Faced with Essien's defense, Leo repeated his old tricks and made another outstanding pass!
  He didn't believe that Essien dared to foul him again despite being given a yellow card!
  Sure enough, Essien hesitated, and Leo successfully broke through the Ghanaian defense and reached the edge of the penalty area!
  (End of this chapter)