Newcastle United are motivated ahead of Sunday’s Carabao Cup final at Wembley Stadium.
After weeks of excitement, the Carabao Cup final is almost here where tens of thousands of Geordies will be flooding to the capital to show their support.
Newcastle United play Liverpool at Wembley on Sunday, with the chance of ending their agonising 70-year wait for a domestic trophy.
Eddie Howe will be likened to Joe Harvey, the last manager to win a trophy for Newcastle, if they can get past the defending Carabao Cup winners, but will have to do it without the likes of Anthony Gordon and Lewis Hall.
For most players, they are looking to avoid a repeat of the 2023 Carabao Cup final which saw them beaten 2-0 by Manchester United on the big stage. Players were visibly emotional on the pitch, and former owner Amanda Staveley vowed Newcastle will win trophies in the future.
Bruno Guimaraes was one of those players in tears on the pitch. Like many other Newcastle players was his first final for the Magpies.
Newcastle will qualify for Europe if they win the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, an extra motivating factor for the game to go with their major honour.
With Newcastle’s first-team squad preparing to travel to London, Guimaraes has said what he believes has changed since the last defeat at Wembley.
Photo by Alex Dodd - CameraSport via Getty Images
Photo by Alex Dodd – CameraSport via Getty Images
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Bruno Guimaraes on changes at Newcastle United
Newcastle feel like a completely different club since that final – more ambitious, more motivated – they will take that all into the game with them.
Guimaraes spoke to Newcastle legend Rob Lee before the game, claiming he ‘rubbed his feet’ for good luck. Lee was the last person to score for Newcastle in a Wembley final, although it was with his head rather than his feet.
Guimaraes took a pre-match press conference with Newcastle’s top scorer Alexander Isak on Friday where the Brazilian was asked about how the team compares to those who played in the 2023 final.
“Now, we have more confidence and are different players,” he said via Newcastle’s official website. “Our confidence is very high at the moment because it is a good opportunity to make history together.
“When you make a final before, you get more experience as a team. You change some players but the base is still there. We are in a better moment than the last time we faced Man U in the final so very confident and hopeful we can go there and play our best football. On our best day, we are a great team.
“We just want to make thousands and thousands of Geordies happy. We know football, sometimes, can attack you in every way but our message is stay positive. We are going to do our best to get this trophy back to the city.”
Bruno Guimaraes has won silverware before
While he is yet to win anything with Newcastle, Guimaraes previously won titles and cups in Brazil.
The 27-year-old has four honours to his name for both club and country, winning three for Athletico Paranense between 2018 and 2019.
Bruno Guimaraes Record at Newcastle United
Appearances (All Competitions) 143
Goals 20
Assists 24
Guimaraes was also part of the 2021 Brazil squad that won a gold medal in the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, playing alongside the likes of Richarlison and Newcastle target Matheus Cunha.
Now captain of the Magpies, Guimaraes has a huge chance of adding to his list of honours with a Carabao Cup win. He has a tattoo of every trophy he has won in his career on his leg, by Monday morning there could be another one that needs to be added.