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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Callum Vurley

Inside Liverpool's dressing room after FA Cup win featuring Mohamed Salah's friend

Liverpool's dressing room at Wembley on Saturday evening was about as manic as imaginable amid their celebrations after lifting the FA Cup ahead of Chelsea while Mohamed Salah's friend joined them as the trophy was paraded around the room.

The Reds were in party mode after beating the Blues on penalties in yet another nervy final between the two Premier League titans following their victory in a similar manner earlier in the season in the Carabao Cup, which also ended in heartbreak for Thomas Tuchel's men from a shootout.

For Jurgen Klopp, this is the second trophy of the season as Liverpool look to gun down an unprecedented quadruple with the Premier League and Champions League still up for grabs in what could be one of the most incredible campaigns ever in football.

And while there is more silverware to be won this year, the Liverpool players still partied the night away after lifting the FA Cup for the first time since 2006. Among the songs being belted out in the Wembley dressing room included Gala's Freed From Desire and Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline.

Joining the squad was also Salah's good pal and former Egypt international Moamen Zakaria, who was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2020 and was forced to retire as a result. One heartwarming moment included Zakaria holding the cup as the Liverpool squad danced and sang around him.

Leading plenty of the chants was Kostas Tsimikas, who Liverpool fans have fallen in love with since his arrival from Olympiacos in 2020. The Greek ended up scoring the winning penalty against Chelsea and is already a cult hero while now he has forged himself into Anfield folklore.

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Kostas Tsimikas scored the winning penalty in the FA Cup final (PA Images Contributor/Press Association Images)

"I am not the Greek Scouser," he said, denoting his fondly-attached nickname. "I am a scouser who is Greek!"

Virgil van Dijk, who came off with a suspected injury, looked primed and ready ahead of the remaining fixtures as he danced with the FA Cup. As the Dutchman did so, his teammates serenaded him with his own chant regularly heard in the Kop End, which uses the melody of The Pogues' Dirty Old Town - "He'll pass the ball, calm as you like, he's Virgil van Dijk, he's Virgil van Dijk."

And amid the celebrations, this trophy will perhaps mean the most to Jordan Henderson - whose last FA Cup final ended in heartbreak 10 years ago against Chelsea after losing 2-1. The midfielder was a youngster back then while Steven Gerrard wore the armband - a decade on and it is now him picking up from the Reds legend to surely write his own iconic status at the club.

The England international said: "That's what we're all about. The attitude to dig deep and to win it on penalties is incredible. We're here to lift trophies, we work so hard all season.

"It's a big moment for us, we haven't come this far, [and been] in this final, for some time, so to win it was special. It's incredible some of the talent we have got and the personalities in the dressing room. You put that together and you win trophies.

"We've won two so far this season - we have three big games left and hopefully we can win all three and finish the season on a high."

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