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On Saturday, the eyes of English football fans will turn to London, where the winner of the FA Cup will be revealed.
London's "Chelsea" - "Liverpool" Referee: Phil Dowd Stadium: "Wembley", London Kick-off: 19.15 (Lithuanian time) Broadcast: "Viasat Sport Baltic" (live)
Roberto Di Matteo will lead London's "Chelsea" team in the final of the tournament today, which should bring back specific memories for him. The Italian holds two FA Cup records: in 1997, he scored a goal against "Middlesbrough" in just 43 seconds, and in 2000, he defeated the goalkeeper of "Aston Villa" with the last goal at the then "Wembley" stadium before it was demolished.
Now Di Matteo could become the third Italian in a row to win the most prestigious English cup trophies: in 2010, it was done with "Chelsea" by Carlo Ancelotti, and last year with "Man City" by Roberto Mancini.
"It's important not to stop - we want to win the FA Cup and the Champions League. Of course, reaching this stage is great, but we still haven't won anything," - the specialist stated.
He managed to revive the seemingly buried season of "Chelsea": replacing the sacked Andre Villas-Boas, he won 11 matches, played four draws, and lost only twice. However, failure was experienced in the middle of this week when "Newcastle" took the victory from London.
Meanwhile, for "Liverpool" manager Kenny Dalglish, this tournament is particularly significant in compensating for the tragic results in the English Premier League.
"Everyone is obsessed with the English championship because it determines a lot and is financially valuable, but winning a cup brings much greater pleasure than finishing fifth or sixth in the standings," - said the Scotsman, whose team has already won the trophies of the English league this season.
Dalglish and "Liverpool" will seek to win the FA Cup for the third time - they succeeded in 1986 and 1989.
In this duel, "Chelsea" will have to cope without defenders Gary Cahill and David Luiz, but all other footballers are ready to take to the field. The main dilemma for the coach is the position of the main attacker, which is being fought for by Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres.
"Liverpool" will be without midfielders Lucas Leiva and Charlie Adam.
