Dirk's medal delight
Dirk Kuyt thanked the Liverpool faithful for their incredible support and spoke of his delight at clinching a first piece of silverware since arriving on Merseyside.
Kuyt was introduced mid-way through extra-time and made an almost immediate impact, scoring what looked to be the winning goal on 108 minutes. He then kept his calm from the spot after Cardiff took a penalty shootout lead in the final.
And the Dutchman insisted that the unwavering support from the travelling Kop was instrumental as Liverpool won their eighth League Cup trophy against a hard-working Cardiff City side.
"The fans were unbelievable. They were right behind us," Kuyt told Liverpoolfc.tv. "It was a tough game. Finals are always difficult but the crowd was always behind us, so thanks again!
"I'm very proud. I'm very proud to play for Liverpool but to not get a medal on my neck was something that was impossible. I'm very happy now to get one and hopefully there's many more to follow."
Kuyt took to the Wembley turf on 103 minutes and in a typical industrious manner, he pressed and harried the opposition before firing past Tom Heaton for 2-1.
And the No.18 admitted he thought he had sealed victory for the Reds when he hooked the ball away from the Liverpool goal-line minutes before time.
"I thought this could be the winner today when I came on," said Kuyt. "I got the second opportunity and I took it and it was a great feeling in front of all those supporters.
"Thirty seconds before the end of the game, I cleared the ball on our own line and I thought: 'this is it - job done! Get this trophy and celebrate!' But they scored in the last minute and put a great effort in. To still win it, to still believe that we could win it on penalties (was a great feeling). But at the end of the day, I think we deserved to win it."
Kuyt kept his nerve to net in the penalty shootout after Steven Gerrard and Charlie Adam both missed from the spot.
"We missed our first two penalties so it was very important to score mine," said Kuyt. "Like I always do, I just go up there and try to score and that's all you can do. Try your best and that's what I did. I put it in the net and I'm really happy because that meant that we were straight back in the game and the rest of the lads did the job."
Rudy Gestede hit the post; Stewart Downing converted for Liverpool before Peter Whittingham leveled proceedings at 2-2.
Glen Johnson was clinical, sweeping home from 12 yards but Anthony Gerrard was not so fortunate.
And Kuyt described the moment he saw the final penalty flash wide of Pepe Reina's left post: "It was an unbelievable feeling. It's my sixth season at Anfield now and I came here to win trophies.
"So to finally get one is a very special feeling and hopefully there's many more to follow. Hopefully we'll soon be back here at Wembley."