The next day, the originally inconspicuous English League Cup second round knockout match unexpectedly made it to the hot spot of various media sports sections.
The reason for this was precisely the match between West Ham United and Cambridge United, which lasted a full 45 minutes and involved 16 rounds of penalty shootout!
Looking at the whole world, the longest penalty shootout was the 2005 Namibia Cup Final in Africa.
The two teams in the final were KK Palace and Civics. Coincidentally, they were also tied 2-2 after 90 minutes, and since there was no extra time in this match, they went directly into a penalty shootout after the game.
In this penalty shootout, a total of 48 penalties (24 rounds) were taken by both sides, with 15 shots missing. Ultimately, KK Palace won 17-16. This remains the longest penalty shootout record in world football to date.
Within England, only in 2009, in a lower-tier cup match, did Taunton Town and Truro City separate victory after 17 rounds of penalties.
And West Ham United and Cambridge United, inadvertently, created a new record in English professional League: a 16-round penalty shootout!
So, it was not surprising that they made it to the hot sections of various media outlets.
Huang Hao couldn't care less about what the media was saying; today, he just wanted a good night's sleep! The feeling of that match was just too exhausting!
Three days later, as the players of West Ham United and Cambridge United stood side by side in the player tunnel, waiting to enter the field, they each read a similar message in the other's eyes.
It’s you again!!!
Although West Ham United was currently only ranked 13th in the League, a full 6 places behind Cambridge United, Zola still used some rotation players.
Cambridge United, however, maintained the exact same starting lineup as they had a few days prior when they defeated West Ham United. After the kick-off, West Ham United was not at a disadvantage due to the inclusion of rotated players.
On the contrary, after the match began, West Ham United posed an even greater threat to Cambridge United.
However, the Chilean midfielder Louis Jiménez, who had just been loaned from Inter Milan this season, seemed out of form. He had two excellent scoring opportunities in front of goal, both of which were saved by Oblak.
Green was also in good form; Vardy's shots, almost on the goal line, were heroically blocked by him!
When Lewandowski's shot was again palmed away by Green, the match ended.
“Old fellow, how many 0:0 draws did we have last season?”
“One. Against Reading.”
Huang Hao, who was on his way off the field, suddenly stopped and looked at Darren with some surprise.
“Did I remember wrong?”
Darren felt a bit nervous under Huang Hao's gaze.
“No, I’m surprised by your reaction speed. I underestimated your memory!”
“Hahaha, so that’s it. It’s not that my memory is good; it’s just that such matches are too few and far between.” Huang Hao nodded thoughtfully.
Cambridge United has had quite a few clean sheets against opponents, and they have also been clean-sheeted quite a bit. But coincidentally, the number of times neither side scored has been very few each season.
Facing such a score, Huang Hao didn't know whether he should be happy about the improvement in defense or worried about the offense not scoring.
Under the leadership of Benítez, Liverpool achieved a record of 4 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss this season, temporarily ranking fourth in the Premier League standings.
Ahead of Liverpool were Manchester United, Chelsea, and Tottenham.
Benítez brought in Aquilani from Serie A Roma for 20 million pounds, intending to replace the departed Xavi Alonso, but so far, the effect has not been good.
He spent 17.5 million pounds to bring in Glen Johnson to replace Arbeloa, who transferred to Real Madrid.
Overall, due to players being poached and corresponding positional players being brought in, Liverpool's overall strength has declined from passive purchases.
October 3rd, Anfield Stadium.
The familiar “You’ll Never Walk Alone” once again echoed in Huang Hao’s ears. For Anfield Stadium, which is perpetually packed, the sight of scattered empty seats in the stands today indicated that Cambridge United's box office appeal clearly couldn't compete with other teams.
However, the overwhelming red still made Anfield look quite spectacular.
Especially the packed KOP stand, with constantly waving battle flags accompanied by uniform shouts, filled the Liverpool players on the field with strength.
To Huang Hao's slight disappointment, Aquilani was not in Liverpool's lineup today. After coming to the Premier League, Aquilani had only appeared 3 times in 7 matches. The rest of the time, he was sidelined with injuries.
Why use a butcher's cleaver to kill a chicken? Moreover, every player in the Liverpool squad is excellent.
However, to be on the safe side, Benítez still fielded most of his starting lineup today.
The goalkeeper was still the Spaniard Reina, and the defenders were Aurelio, Agger, Carragher, and Johnson.
The two defensive midfielders were Mascherano and Lucas Leiva.
The attacking trident consisted of Gerrard, Rodriguez, and Kuyt, with Torres leading the line.
After the match began, Liverpool unexpectedly implemented a high-pressing tactic against Cambridge United.
Benítez decided to fight fire with fire, using Cambridge United’s most familiar method to deal with them, seemingly inspired by Manchester United.
Facing Liverpool's press, Cambridge United's players did not appear overly flustered.
After all, as seasoned practitioners of this tactic, Cambridge United players naturally knew how to deal with it.
And Cambridge United's biggest advantage was their understanding.
The players could almost anticipate their teammates' runs with their eyes closed, so even when Liverpool players quickly closed in, they could still calmly pass the ball to their teammates' feet.
Despite the fierce approach of the Liverpool players, Cambridge United still managed to successfully move the ball into the attacking third.
Tadić received the ball on the right and quickly passed it to Sun Jihai, who was overlapping.
Before Rodriguez could get close, Sun Jihai sent the ball to the edge of the penalty area! Lewandowski received the ball, first shielding Agger, waiting for teammates to support.
Once Tadić arrived to support, Lewandowski first dragged the ball towards the byline, and as he turned, he used his heel to flick the ball directly to Tadić!
Tadić took the ball without any hesitation, passing it back again to Sun Jihai, who was arriving at the edge of the penalty area.
Sun Jihai then flicked the ball to Ayu in the middle, who quickly shifted the ball to the left side of the penalty area!
At this moment, Mahrez, who had also pushed up, actually used his less-favored right foot to curl a shot directly into the top left corner of the goal!
Fortunately, Reina reacted incredibly fast, first blocking it with a hand, then quickly advancing to gather the ball!
Five minutes later, Vardy dropped back into his own half, successfully received the ball cleared by a teammate, and then immediately passed it to Mahrez on the wing, while he sprinted towards Liverpool's attacking third!
As soon as Mahrez reached Liverpool's half, he sent the ball directly to the edge of the penalty area with a curving shot!
Tadić and Lewandowski both arrived at full speed at this moment!
Unfortunately, under Carragher's interference, Tadić's header lacked power, and the ball was once again safely collected by Reina.
Cambridge United, after the kick-off, had a somewhat assertive approach, playing like the home team.
After all, this was a match that required no motivation.
Gradually, Benítez noticed something was off; the rashness he had seen in Cambridge United seemed to have disappeared.
In the off-ball phase, Cambridge United did not press maniacally all over the field like mad dogs; instead, they quickly retracted their defensive line, trying to compress Liverpool's attacking space as much as possible.
And once Cambridge United players made a tackle, their success rate so far was a terrifying 100%!
Even if Liverpool successfully broke through the wing blockade, Torres's two shots inside the penalty area were both directly blocked by the defenders.
After 13 minutes of the first half, Cambridge United had not been outplayed by Liverpool, dashing the Liverpool fans' hopes of an early thrashing of their opponents.
Being attacked twice at home right after the kick-off, Reina was somewhat annoyed. Seeing Kuyt in the distance, Reina launched a long pass, the ball heading straight for Kuyt in the attacking third.
Since Cambridge United was still retreating at this point, Van Dijk and Kante, who remained, did not rush forward en masse. Instead, they adopted a strategy of one player advancing while the other tried to cut off Kuyt's passing lanes.
Kuyt, seeing his breakthrough path blocked, trustingly passed the ball to the young Lucas Leiva beside him.
Lucas Leiva chose not to continue the breakthrough, but instead lightly chipped the ball with his right foot, attempting to lob it to Mascherano ahead.
Kante, who had been following Mascherano closely, headed Lucas Leiva's pass back with a 'look back at the moon' header during his retreat!
Tadić, without waiting for the ball to land, kicked it to Ayu in the middle!
Ayu, while trapping the ball, quickly passed it forward!
Lewandowski put on a burst of speed, heading straight for the ball!
Johnson on the wing and Agger in the middle began to close in from both sides, attempting to trap and intercept Lewandowski!
Seeing the two forming a blockade in front, Lewandowski suddenly pushed the ball to the right, then turned his body and ran behind Johnson!
Just as Johnson and Lewandowski were gradually approaching the byline, Lewandowski suddenly passed the ball from beside Johnson towards Carragher in front of the goal!
Carragher was stunned for a moment. Did Lewandowski mistake him for a Cambridge United teammate?
But at this critical moment, Ayu suddenly sprinted from the far side!
Just as Carragher was about to kick the ball out of the penalty area, Ayu, who had surged in from behind, directly flew up with his left foot and kicked the ball into the top left corner of the goal!!!
Reina, who had already moved towards the center of the goal, was unable to save it, and the ball grazed the left post and nestled into the net!!!
0:1!
14 minutes and 20 seconds into the match, in full view of 53,000 fans, Cambridge United scored first, breaking through Liverpool's goal!!!
Benítez angrily threw the water bottle that had been at his lips onto the ground, the splashing water directly drenching his legs!
In his mind, Liverpool should have scored at least one goal by now, making Cambridge United give up the struggle.
Why was this damned script not going as planned!
Benítez cursed under his breath.
Although they didn't see their Head Coach throw the bottle, for the Liverpool players, being scored on first at home by such an unknown small team was clearly unacceptable.
But as the match progressed, they found that this small team seemed to have become even more troublesome.
Leaving aside the annoying little fouls in close combat, in defense, most of the time, Cambridge United used two players to defend one Liverpool player. In any area, Cambridge United seemed to create a numerical advantage through relentless running.
Two fists are no match for four legs. Liverpool was not an overly flashy team to begin with, and in these two-on-one situations, their success rate in breaking through was greatly reduced.
Benayoun was on the bench today, and from this perspective, he could more clearly observe the changes in Cambridge United.
Although he had only played against this team twice, Cambridge United had left a deep impression on him.
It seemed that every time they met, he could see surprises and improvements in this small team.