Chapter 1 The Beginning

In the fading hush, the game began. Liverpool won the kickoff, but they didn't immediately attack, as there was no one up front.

They passed the ball all the way back, intending to lure Chelsea's players forward, to stretch out their compressed formation, and then quickly pass it to Chen Hero in the front.

But this time, they greatly underestimated Chelsea.

After being humiliated by Chen Hero's yawn, Chelsea's players were full of fighting spirit, determined to cut down Chen Hero and his Liverpool lackeys in this match.

So, in fact, Liverpool's players didn't need to lure them at all... From the start of the game, Chelsea's players surged toward Liverpool's backfield like a tide. The football ran ahead like a tide rider, with the blue tide of Chelsea players chasing behind.

Liverpool's players had not expected Chelsea's morale to be so high, and their attack to be so swift and resolute.

So when they handled the ball, they were actually intimidated by the momentum emanating from Chelsea's players…

For a moment, they were a little flustered.

Then the ball was intercepted by a Chelsea player!

"Chelsea has stolen the ball! Hulk has intercepted Spearing's pass!"

"This is a fatal mistake! Spearing lost the ball in the backfield, and Chelsea is launching a counterattack!"

The commentators exclaimed.

No one had expected such a thrilling scene to occur right from the start of the game!

The match had just begun, and Chelsea's players had already stolen the ball from the flustered Liverpool players!

Liverpool fans in the stands gasped, while Chelsea fans cheered loudly, encouraging Hulk.

Spearing reacted quickly after losing the ball. He didn't freeze up or wallow in self-pity. He immediately turned and lunged at Hulk, wrapping his arms around him.

He tried to pull Hulk down.

The Brazilian "Green Giant" was indeed strong enough. Spearing wrapped his arms around him, but he couldn't pull him down...

He simply put all his weight on him, but still couldn't bring Hulk to the ground.

Laughter erupted from the Chelsea fans in the stands—don't always say your Liverpool's Chen Hero is strong, our Green Giant Hulk is just as good! Look at your guy, almost hanging on Hulk, and he still hasn't brought him down, how pathetic is this Liverpool player!

But their laughter quickly disappeared.

Because the referee's whistle blew. He saw that Hulk's movements had become sluggish under Spearing's entanglement. Although he hadn't fallen, it was no longer possible to continue forward, so he decisively blew the whistle in his mouth.

Hearing this whistle, the Chelsea fans couldn't laugh anymore.

Yes, Spearing failed to pull Hulk down, and looked very embarrassed, but he achieved his goal—he successfully stopped Chelsea's attack.

As a defense, this was a successful defense. As for whether it looked good or not... Could a good-looking posture successfully defend against the opponent and prevent them from scoring?

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Hearing the whistle, Spearing released Hulk. But Hulk was already furious. What a great opportunity! If it weren't for this kid holding him back, he might have been able to break into the penalty area and score! He was going to create the fastest goal in FA Cup final history!

Previously, the fastest goal in FA Cup final history was scored by Everton striker Saha in the 2008-2009 season, when Saha opened the scoring for Everton just twenty-five seconds into the match.

If it hadn't been for Spearing, Hulk might have scored in twenty seconds with such a one-on-one opportunity.

So when the referee blew the whistle, he waved his hands angrily and stomped his feet.

Then he turned around to make trouble for Spearing.

Spearing was no pushover either. Seeing Hulk coming at him, he retorted tit-for-tat.

The two stood head to head, neither giving way.

At this moment, the referee ran up, and other players from both sides rushed up to separate them.

The referee gave Spearing a yellow card. Spearing had no objection to this. It was a deliberate foul. If he hadn't fouled, Hulk would have directly faced the defensive line, facing Evans and the others. The unprepared defense would not have been able to organize any effective defense, and might have collapsed completely in the face of Hulk's strong impact, letting Hulk into the penalty area. Once Hulk was in the penalty area, scoring would be easy.

So he had to foul.

When he made this move, he knew that he couldn't escape a yellow card. If there hadn't been a defensive line in front, a direct red card would have been possible.

But this was his own mistake, and he had to make up for it himself, without giving his teammates a chance to get carded.

This was a responsibility that a captain should shoulder.

Although carrying a yellow card would cause him, as a defensive midfielder, a lot of trouble in the following games, now was not the time to consider whether it was worth it.

Spearing received a yellow card, and Hulk also received a verbal warning from the referee for his emotional behavior.

The tension between the two sides was evident from the very first second of the game.

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The commentators believed that this mistake was due to the Liverpool reserve team players lacking experience in playing such important final matches, being too nervous, which led to their minds going blank and their movements becoming stiff, giving Hulk the opportunity to intercept the ball.

This explanation made sense and was very reasonable.

Liverpool fans clenched their fists when they saw Spearing's mistake, and their hearts were in their throats. Fortunately, Spearing made amends himself and prevented Chelsea's breakthrough by fouling.

But it still made many people feel scared.

Now, hearing the commentators' explanation, they began to worry about the team's next game.

Yes... nervousness was too normal for this reserve team. It was impossible to expect them to remain calm in the face of such a big occasion as the FA Cup final, like the battle-hardened first team, like Chen Hero.

They couldn't do it.

But it was one thing that they were nervous, and it was another thing that their nervousness might bring disaster to the team…

Today's game, they couldn't lose, they had to win. With all of you nervous, how could Chen Hero alone deal with the fierce Chelsea?

Liverpool fans were worried there.

But who knew that the Liverpool players were not actually nervous? This was just an accident?

They just hadn't expected Chelsea to come up so quickly, so they were caught off guard.

This was not nervousness.

In fact, the Liverpool players were not nervous at all.

Because their nervousness had already been exhausted by insomnia last night and this morning.

Instead, they had been in a relatively excited state.

During this time, they would not easily feel tired, so they would not get tired so easily.

This was actually a kind of "psychological stimulant" that allowed their various indicators to perform beyond normal.

Chelsea thought that they were already giving Liverpool a lot of face by not underestimating them. In fact, they should be glad that they did not underestimate their opponents, otherwise they would definitely lose miserably…

Although this Liverpool team was still wearing the skin of a reserve team, after two months of special training and this kind of self-hypnosis, they were no longer the reserve team in the traditional sense.

Besides, after this mistake at the beginning of the game, they didn't lose the ball. This showed that they were very lucky. After surviving a disaster, there would be good fortune!

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Chelsea players were not satisfied with the referee's decision. They believed that Spearing should have been sent off with a direct red card.

But the referee upheld the original verdict and gave Chelsea a free kick in the frontcourt.

This free kick ultimately did not pose any threat to Liverpool's goal.

The game then entered a normal phase.

Chelsea played steadily and did not take the liberty of pressing forward in a big way just because their overall strength was much higher than that of the Liverpool reserve team, causing their defense to be empty and allowing Liverpool to launch a counterattack. Tottenham Hotspur had lost the game this way, hadn't they?

Thanks to Tottenham, they provided enough experience and lessons. Before this game, Advocaat had the whole team study the semi-final video of Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur many times, to find the reasons why Tottenham lost. Underestimating the enemy was certainly a main reason, but the tactics were also worth discussing carefully.

Liverpool's counterattack was very powerful, as could be seen from this semi-final. Their reserve team's tactics were also close to the first team's.

That is to say, defensive counterattack would be their most likely tactic.

In that case, Chelsea could no longer leave them too many gaps behind the defensive line.

In this game, Advocaat required the four defenders not to press forward easily. In this way, even if Liverpool launched a counterattack, they would encounter a complete defensive line, and would not be penetrated so easily.

Advocaat's tactical requirements were completely treating the Liverpool reserve team in front of him as the first team.

This showed how careful and cautious he was.

Even so, Advocaat still dared not take it lightly and thought everything was fine.

After all, Chen Hero was also very unsolvable. It should be known that many teams facing Liverpool would choose these methods, but in the end they still failed. Why?

Because Liverpool had Chen Hero, and they didn't.

Chen Hero had just broken Dixie Dean's record, and was in good condition. He had no confidence at all in defending Chen Hero.

He could only do his best to do everything he could, and then pray to God, and also hope that God could hear him and not stand on Chen Hero's side.

It should be known that there had been many times before, and the facts proved that God stood with Chen Hero…