A young football fan from Derry experienced a dream moment as she led Liverpool onto the pitch at Wembley for the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle.
Hannah O’Carolan, 11, walked hand-in-hand with Reds captain Virgil van Dijk in front of millions of TV viewers and a packed stadium of 90,000 fans.
The child beamed with pride as she stood at the front as the teams lined up and shook hands with dignitaries, and the Newcastle players.
Ahead of the match, Hannah arrived at Wembley early to meet the Liverpool squad, take photos with the players, and watch them warm up.
A passionate Liverpool supporter, Hannah plays as a defender for her local club, Maiden City.
Football runs in the family as her great uncle, Brendan Bradley, is the League of Ireland’s all-time top scorer with 235 goals.
While her aunt Sinead played for the Northern Ireland women’s team.
Unfortunately for the young fan, her Liverpool team lost out in the Carabao Cup final as Newcastle claimed their first major title in 70 years.
Two days after earning his first England call-up at the age of 32, Dan Burns – the 6ft 7in boyhood Newcastle fan – headed the goal which propelled his club to their first domestic trophy in 70 years.
Newcastle – who lost in this final to Manchester United two years ago, and hadn’t won a Wembley final since the 1955 FA Cup – took full advantage, Alexander Isak thumping home the second shortly after the interval.
Liverpool looked jaded after extra-time and penalties against PSG but they gave themselves a lifeline four minutes into injury-time when Federico Chiesa raced through and slotted home for Liverpool.
The Italian’s effort was originally flagged offside but VAR overruled, setting up a severely nervous climax.
But the Geordie held on deep into injury time to claim their first title in 70-years.
