Since the renovation of Wembley Stadium began in 2001, the FA Cup and League Cup finals have been held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, which has also increased the popularity of the Millennium Stadium.
The reconstruction of Wembley Stadium has always been regarded by the British as a symbol of British sports.
Due to the involvement of various interest groups, the debate surrounding the reconstruction of Wembley Stadium has never stopped, and construction costs are also increasing.
In 2000, the Australian construction company MULTIPLEX signed a contract and estimated that the maximum cost of rebuilding Wembley Stadium was 326.5 million pounds.
But the infrastructure level of foreigners is simply incomparable with that of China.
As time goes by, while the construction costs continue to rise, the construction period is also rushed, but still not caught up.
In the past five years, various problems such as capital chain breaks, scaffolding worker accidents, and arrears in settlement funds have occurred.
Until August 2005, Multiplex Construction Company announced a set of "disheartening figures", with a total loss of 26.1 million pounds in 2005.
According to the contract, Multiplex Construction Company will be compensated 120,000 pounds for delaying completion by one day, and the total compensation may reach 14 million pounds.
By the beginning of 2006, the roof of Wembley had just been completed, and the stadium heating system and drainage system had also been completed.
However, just a few days ago, Multiplex still announced that the project could not be completed in May as originally planned. The FA Cup final originally planned to be held at the new Wembley was forced to be moved to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, let alone the two-day event. The League Cup final.
On February 25, fans who had said they were going to London to watch the game the previous year once again flocked to Cardiff, the capital of Wales.
Judging from the map, the straight-line distance between Cardiff and Manchester is 220 kilometers, and the distance from Southampton is only 140 kilometers. But Southampton and Cardiff are separated by Bristol Bay, which goes deep inland, so buses from Southampton have to take a detour to Closter. In this way, the distance traveled by the Saints bus is almost the same as that in Manchester.
The League Cup is the first cup to determine the champion among the four major European leagues each season, and it is also the cup with the most name changes.
Over the years, with the change of sponsors, the name of the League Cup has been changed to "Milk Cup", "Little Forest Cup", "Lambero Cup", "Coca-Cola Cup", "Worthington Cup" Cup" and so on, the latest version is called "Carlin Cup".
Of course, local fans prefer to call the League Cup the "Mickey Mouse Cup" to vividly summarize this tasteless event.
The creation of the League Cup was also dramatic.
In the 1960-61 season, the then Premier League Secretary-General Hardak wanted to persuade some top leagues to reduce the number of participating places. As a compensation for the reduced schedule, he proposed to add a League Cup.
This proposal has the support of small and medium-sized teams.
You know, if you draw a strong team in the cup, the chance of making a lot of money at the box office and tickets is equivalent to buying a lottery ticket. Now that there is an additional cup, it is equivalent to one more chance to draw a lottery.
However, the top league teams refused to withdraw. While the Hadak plan was not implemented, the League Cup was saved by greedy capitalists.
Without the status of the FA Cup, the League Cup has gradually become useless.
Even in the 1990s, some strong Premier League teams refused to field a first-line lineup in the League Cup, even in the League Cup final.
The club doesn't care about the tournament and the media even less care.
Even the "Guardian" threatened: "The League Cup is just to add a slightly bigger title when the league reaches this stage. Think about it, by the end of the season, who will remember the League Cup?"
However, if we take a closer look at the League Cup finals over the years, some interesting things have indeed happened.
In 2001, Birmingham City, which was still in League One at the time, dragged Liverpool until the penalty shootout, and finally lost to the Red Army; in 2002, the humble Blackburn defeated Tottenham Hotspur and won the championship; in 2004, there was no win for more than 120 years. Championship-winning Middlesbrough finally lifted the first trophy in the club's history at the Millennium Stadium...
If someone had told a Middlesbrough fan that the trophy was just a "Mickey Mouse Cup" on the day they won the title, he would have been beaten.
Yes, for those unknown small teams, the League Cup is their most promising championship trophy.
In the history of Southampton, the team has only won one domestic cup championship, and that was in the 1976 FA Cup final.
For the League Cup, Southampton's best result was the runner-up in 1979.
Apart from three other FA Cup runners-up places, there is no other more dazzling result in Southampton's history.
So Southampton is bound to win this championship!
According to the chairman of the League Committee, Sir Merwinney, on the 23rd, the League Cup attendance this season will be a record high in 27 years.
There is no other reason. This is a war between a small south coast team challenging the established giants of the Premier League!
Although the dialogue between strong and strong can be enjoyable for fans, the defeat of the strong by the weak can be even more inspiring.
Isn’t that the charm of football?
Like the Danish fairy tale in 1992, the Kaiserslautern season in 1997-98, the Greek mythology in 2004...
Whenever a dark horse goes dark, joy and carnival can even penetrate the ranks and penetrate into people's hearts!
Some media predict that if Southampton wins the League Cup, this will be the beginning of the Saints' rise.
In the remaining ten league games, the morale-boosted Saints will definitely fight their way back into the promotion circle and directly rush into the Premier League next season.
Judging from Keegan's performance this season, Southampton has attached great importance to winning this event from the beginning, and they did reach the final.
Sir Alex Ferguson didn't take this event seriously at first, but today, he has to put all his focus on this final.
The reason has been mentioned before. This is the last chance left for Manchester United in these two seasons.
As a result, both coaches hope to win the championship to comfort the fans.
For Keegan, who has never had a League Cup final experience, his opponent Ferguson has never won a League Cup title. The two have equal experience in this area, so there is nothing to be afraid of.
...
When Wang Xiaodong was lying on the backstage seat as the bus slowly drove into the city, the noisy sounds outside gradually penetrated through the gaps in the glass and penetrated into the almost completely sealed bus.
"What are these fans arguing about?"
"Are they here to see how their team lost?"
Wang Xiaodong turned over and happened to see Bell leaning against the window, wearing a pair of headphones.
"Great Sage, how does it feel to be home?"
Wang Xiaodong reached out and took off Bell's headphones, and the sound of Queen came from inside.
"We will, we will rock you!"
"FXXK YOU??? What kind of song is this?" Wang Xiaodong raised his eyebrows deliberately.
Bell was born here, and he is very familiar with this place.
Looking out the window at the dense crowd of fans, Bell ignored Wang Xiaodong's joke, but showed a trace of unconcealable excitement on his face.
“I’ve long wanted to come back and play football here, but I never thought it would be so soon!”
When Bell was 9 years old, he represented Cardiff Civil Service Football Club in a 5-a-side football championship. What he meant was that he would return home in glory after becoming famous, not that he would transfer back here after failing to survive outside.
"Then show them 'quickly'!"
Everyone off the net deliberately emphasized the word "fast", which immediately made other teammates laugh.
Bell is fast, this is already known to everyone in the team.
And according to Wang Xiaodong's description, Bell has become a three-second man in the eyes of his teammates.
"Bei Sansiao" is the nickname everyone gave him.
As for how Wang Xiaodong knew that Bell only had three seconds, the team members took it for granted that Wang Xiaodong should know!
"Manchester?"
"What's so great!"
"Manchester United asked me to play football for them!"
"I didn't even pick them up!"
Looking out the window at the fans holding Manchester signs high, Wang Xiaodong had a look of disdain on his face.
It is common for players from small teams like Southampton to brag about the fact that they are approached by wealthy scouts.
And since you said it in this way, it means that there is basically no chance of you transferring to the other party.
Even so, those players who will never be favored by wealthy clubs in their lifetime will still show a look of shock.
Especially Wang Xiaodong does have this ability.
"Oh? Dong, is there still such a thing?"
"When?"
"Who contacted you?"
"How much did they prescribe to you?"
The teammates asked all kinds of questions. Wang Xiaodong curled his lips and deliberately whetted his appetite.
Of course, he couldn't talk about the "favorable" conditions offered to him by little Ferguson. That little money seemed to him today to be an absolute shame!
"What's so great about Manchester United!"
"You beg me to go, but I'm still not willing to go!"
While Wang Xiaodong and his teammates were bragging, the Manchester United bus also arrived outside Cardiff Stadium.
When the players got off the bus one by one, the fans and media who came to greet them had already caused great trouble to the local traffic.
Even reporters from local TV stations said sourly: "The whole of Cardiff has been occupied by red!"
In fact, not only Manchester United is red, Southampton's red and white straight stripes are also classified as red.
And in today's final, Manchester United wore the away jersey.
That is, they are blue today.
When Sir Alex Ferguson appeared at the press conference and shook hands with Kevin Keegan, he and Cristiano Ronaldo, who also attended the press conference, instantly became the focus of the venue.
"My God, Xiao Luo is so handsome!"
"He is simply a born supermodel!"
"He is definitely the best successor to No. 7!"
The spotlight kept shining on Ronaldo.
Think about it too.
Although Lu Xiaopang is the leading striker of Manchester United, his image is really poor compared to Cristiano Ronaldo.
For public relations occasions like this, Sir Alex likes to bring his "godson" to the scene.
"...Southampton is a great team. When Mr. Keegan was still playing, he had already built it into a strong team comparable to the Premier League."
"Now that Mr. Keegan is leading the Saints again as a coach, and as a Championship team, they have reached the League Cup final, which is enough to show the strength of this team."
"For this game, I ask all my players to treat it with a 120-point spirit."
"Many of them are young and enthusiastic and have no right to look down upon this event like their predecessors."
"And I have been studying Southampton's characteristics these days and have made targeted arrangements. I believe this will be a wonderful matchup!"
What the old lord said was neither humble nor arrogant, and extremely beautiful.
It not only refutes the rumors from the outside that Manchester United does not value the League Cup, but also tells the opponents that this is all you need to do, the championship is ours after all.
After the old Sir Alex finished speaking, Ronaldinho, who was sitting next to him, acted much more directly.
"To be fair, there's a huge gap between Southampton and us."
"I clearly remember that in the final game of last season, my opponent didn't put much pressure on me."
"We're not a level team at all, even though they came here from the inside out, I just want to say I'm sorry."
"Victory must belong to us, and Manchester United will definitely win the final championship!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a loud voice came from the other side of the press conference seat.
"What did you say? I didn't hear you!"
Since the microphone is open in turns, the other party's voice comes entirely from the throat.
Even so, it shocked everyone in the hall and turned their heads to look over.
"I said I will definitely win the championship!" Xiao Luo picked up the microphone, stretched his neck, and looked at Wang Xiaodong at the other end.
Wang Xiaodong leaned on the chair and picked his nose, with a look of disdain on his face.
"I remember Arsenal told us this before, but they ended up losing five goals to us!"
The implication is that Manchester United, which is at the same level as Arsenal, can also score 5 goals!
"Don't worry, if you want to score goals today, it won't be that easy!"
Xiao Luo snorted coldly.
"Oh? So confident?"
"Of course! We are different from Arsenal!"
"What's the difference? In my opinion, aren't they all a group of guys whose reputation is greater than their strength?" Wang Xiaodong continued to say words that were enough to give Keegan a myocardial infarction.
Faced with Wang Xiaodong's contempt, Xiao Luo snapped and stood up.
He held up the microphone and said loudly:
"Because Manchester United has me, I am Cristiano Ronaldo!"
