Liverpool’s unsung hero Fabinho has revealed the gamble he took knowing his team-mates would ‘kill’ him if he failed.
The quiet midfielder was the unlikely star of a penalty shoot out at Wembley, in the EFL Cup final against Chelsea, where his coolly-taken ‘Panenka’ shocked his own fans, and stunned the opposition.
It came off in style with keeper Kepa, supposedly a penalty expert, totally nonplussed. And Fabinho couldn’t suppress a laugh, as he said: “The day before the final, I tried to do a Panenka (in training). It was just me and Luis Diaz, with no goalkeeper in the goal.
“I told him ‘tomorrow if it goes to pens, I will shoot like this’. He didn’t believe me! But when I was walking to the box to take the penalty, it was in my mind to shoot a Panenka. It worked!”
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Fabinho was all smiles as he relived the moment ahead of the Champions League tie with Inter Milan, which could still go to penalties if the Italians produce a shock comeback.
And he admitted it was a bold gamble, which could have made him look stupid if he got it wrong.
“When you shoot a penalty like this, you know that if you miss, when you come back to the dressing room everyone will kill you,” he said.
“But it was in my mind that I would take it like this, and that I could do it.”
That penalty helped Liverpool to their first trophy this season, and they still remain in three more competitions, with the chance to reach the Champions League quarter final next up at Anfield.
Fabinho is hardly getting carried away, but he showed in resolve in insisting that Liverpool try to win every trophy they chase, and he said they will be serious about pursuing a quadruple.
“It’s really nice to still be alive in three competitions and win the Carabao Cup. And when you play good then it’s normal for the media to talk about Liverpool winning four trophies,” he said.
“It is something new for us because I’ve ever played a domestic cup final with Liverpool, never played an FA Cup quarter-final with Liverpool, so it’s important to win trophies, to be in the last phase of the competitions.
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“We are Liverpool and we try to win everything we can. It’s good to play a lot of games in a lot of competitions. Of course at a big club like Liverpool we want to win everything: tomorrow we will try to win the Inter game.”
Fabinho is hoping to be on the scoresheet again too, after scoring six times this season – twice the number he had recorded in his three previous seasons with the club.
He has set himself a target of double figures, and believes further success in the cup competitions will give him the chance to get there.
“I didn’t think much of a target, like 10 goals, but I have six goals and I think double digits is gettable. We have a chance to score a lot.”
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