LONDON: For all the millions of pounds Newcastle United have invested in an array of talent from around the globe since a Saudi Arabiabacked takeover in 2021, it was Dan Burn, born down the road in Blyth, who proved the hero to end decades of hurt on Sunday.

Brazilian captain Bruno Guimaraes was inspirational in the 2-1 League Cup final win over Liverpool, as was compatriot Joelinton who celebrated tackles like a manpossessed.

Italian Sandro Tonali oozed class and Sweden`s Alexander Isak scored his 24th goal of a superb season that will afford him cult status alongside the club`s former iconic forwards.

But the moment 32-yearold central defender Burn met a corner with a thumping header to putNewcastle in front on the stroke of halftime was the defining moment of a final that delivered Newcastle`s first domestic silverware since 1955.

Burn, a Newcastle youth product but whose career needed stops at Darlington, Fulham, Yeovil Town, Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic and Brighton & Hove Albion before returning to the relegation-threatened Magpies in 2022, was described by manager Eddie Howe as colossal on Sunday after a fairytale week.

`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, who on Friday was given his first England call-up and on Sunday scored his first goal of the season, said. `I don`t get many [goals] so I saved it for a big occasion.There will not be much time to celebrate though, Burn said. `Pll be first there tomorrow at 8 o`clock,` he added of joining up with new England manager Thomas Tuchel`s camp.

Howe was brought in soon after Saudi Arabia`s Public Investment Fund led a takeover of the club and, while the talk was of the trophies new-found wealth could deliver, his initial task was to ensure the club stayed in the Premier League.

Howe led Newcastle into last season`s Champions League but defeat in the 2023 League Cup final by Manchester United meant the wait for domestic silverware had stretched to 70 years.

A 10th successive Wembley defeat would have been a crushing blow for Newcastle and their fabled Toon Army, but Howe`s side comprehen-sively outplayed a feted Liverpool team that is running away with the Premier League.

`It`s a great moment, and that`s what it`s all about,` Howe, who was drenched in beer by his celebrating players, told reporters. `You have so many difficult days in football, and this club`s had its fair share over the years.

`I`m just so pleased they [the fans] have this trophy to end the long wait and hopefully we can get some more in the future Today we won it in the best way; we played a brilliant opponent, they`ve been the best team in the Premier League all season by a long way and, for me, we were the better team.

For the hordes of black and white-clad fans who make Newcastle one of the Premier League`s most passionately supported clubs, it was a catharticmoment.

`The curse stuff for me never existed. It was in our hands,` Howe said.

`It`s a victory for the club and the city for everyone who has given loyalty to the club and seen some really disappointing days for a number of decades.

Since I`ve been at the football club their support has been incredible.

The loss at Wembley compounded a difficult week for Arne Slot`s Liverpool, who exited the Champions League in the last 16 to Paris St Germain in a crushing penalty shootout defeat on Tuesday.

Yet while two shots at silverware had evaporated in the space of six days, Liverpool are just weeks away from Premier League glory barring a meltdown and Slot was in no mood to let Sunday`s defeat turn a blip into a full-blown crisis.Slot`s side mustered little after goals from Burn and Isak in each half gave Newcastle a comfortable advantage and Federico Chiesa`s added-time effortwas barely a consolation for the Merseysiders who had been second-best.

`This is part of playing football, especially if one of them is when you facethe best team in Europe at the moment and the other one is facing Newcastle, which is a very strong team in England,` he said.-Agencies