Dan Burn on Sunday said that Newcastle United’s historic EFL Cup final triumph against Liverpool felt like a dream as the defender capped an incredible week by scoring in the 2-1 win at Wembley Stadium in London.
Burn put Newcastle ahead late in the first half and Alexander Isak doubled their lead after halftime.
Federico Chiesa got one back in the closing minutes, but Newcastle held on for their first major silverware since the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
Photo: Reuters
The Magpies’ first significant domestic prize in 70 years was the climax of a remarkable three days for Burn, who was named in Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad on Friday last week.
The 32-year-old centerback’s first international call-up comes after a well-traveled journeyman career featuring permanent and loan spells at Darlington, Yeovil Town, Birmingham City and Wigan Athletic, before his breakthrough at Brighton & Hove Albion and an eventual move to Newcastle in 2022.
Born just 43km away from Newcastle in Blyth, Burn is the quintessential local hero, but even he could not quite believe his fairy-tale story.
“I’ve had worse weeks. I don’t want to go to sleep because I feel like I’m dreaming and it’s all going to be a lie,” Burn said. “I feel strange, I feel numb at the minute.”
Burn benefited from Newcastle’s clever set-piece routines to score from Kieran Trippier’s corner.
“I knew Alexis Mac Allister wasn’t looking at the ball and I’d be able to get a jump on him. I don’t get many so I saved it for a big occasion,” he said.
The celebrations might have been slightly more muted for Burn than some of his Newcastle teammates, as he had to meet up with his new England teammates yesterday morning.
“Tomorrow morning, I’ll be first there tomorrow at 8 o’clock,” he said.
Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes said the victory was the “best day of my life” and dedicated it to the club’s legion of raucous supporters.
“It’s all for these fans,” Guimaraes told Sky Sports. “They deserve everything. When I first came here I said I wanted to put my name in history. We can now say we are the champions again. This is one of the best days of my life.”
“I don’t have any words. It’s the best day of my life,” he said. “For them [the fans] it’s like the World Cup. People have grown up and not seen us as champions. My first year as captain of this club and it’s one of the best days. This is unbelievable.”
“This is my second home. We are making history,” he added. “Some day when I leave this club I want the fans to sing my name the way they do to [former player Alan] Shearer. He texted me before the game. I’m so emotional today.”
Sweden striker Isak hopes the Wembley triumph can be the springboard for sustained Newcastle success after decades of underachievement.
“This is really just the start,” Isak said. “We will see more from the fans and what it means for the people when we get back to Newcastle. We are all aware of how long it’s been for the fans without a trophy.”
“When you’ve been without a trophy for so long it can be in the back of your head, but hopefully now we have won this it is bright days in front of us,” he said.
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