Liverpool penalty hero Kostas Tsimikas revealed that he had requested to be the seventh taker at Wembley – and it turned out to be his lucky number as he struck the kick that won his side the FA Cup.
Tsimikas has never scored a senior goal for Liverpool but the left-back took his opportunity after replacing Andy Robertson late on to beat Edouard Mendy from the spot and seal a 6-5 win in the shoot-out.
‘It’s very special,’ said Tsimikas. ‘The manager asked me which number I wanted and I said seven. He asks me why so far and I said (again) I wanted number seven.
Liverpool beat Chelsea at Wembley on penalties to win the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon
It was Kostas Tsimakos who tucked the 13th penalty of the day into the bottom right corner
‘It gave me the opportunity to win the game. I choose the right side and I scored and I am very happy with that.
‘I am not the “Greek Scouser”, I am the “Scouser Greek”. We have to celebrate now, but still in our minds we have the upcoming games. We have to be 100% focused if we want to achieve our goals.’
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson had given Tsimikas his match-winning strike by saving Mason Mount’s previous kick with a brilliant dive to his left.
Meanwhile, Chelsea’s Mason Mount failed to convert from the penalty spot to keep them in it
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Tsimikas had never scored a senior goal for Liverpool before coming on for Andy Robertson
‘It was good, hey!’ smiled the Reds No1. ‘The goalkeeper coaches helped me with my decisions.
‘Chelsea did really well but we deserved to win this. I only make the save because we deserved to win this.
‘This gives us more confidence in the Premier League and also the Champions League final. It’s a fantastic moment now, we just need to enjoy.’