Manchester United handed out more than 33,000 souvenir scarves to fans before the Carabao Cup final, but nobody looked as proud to have one around their neck as Wout Weghorst as he departed Wembley.
The United players filed out of the national stadium in club tracksuits. Some had shirts in bags. Jadon Sancho carried a boombox, Lisandro Martinez held the trophy under his arm. But Weghorst was the only one wearing one of the scarves that will forever be associated with the first trophy of the Erik ten Hag era.
There is the promise of more to follow, maybe as soon as the next couple of months. If Ten Hag is as successful as the travelling Stretford End believes he will be then this late February day against Newcastle may be just a footnote in history.
READ MORE: United have done what great teams do in the space of four days
If that is the narrative that follows then Weghorst may be the last answer in the quiz question when it comes to naming the first team to win a trophy for Ten Hag, but on this day it meant as much to the loanee as to any other player in that squad.
There was a scene soon after the final whistle when the Dutch striker was caught kneeling down in front of the United fans, looking at the scenes of celebration with what seemed some bewilderment. You could hardly blame him. Seven weeks ago he was still in Istanbul, seeing out the season with Besiktas to avoid a campaign in the Championship with Burnley.
So, if he’d been told two months ago that he’d be winning a trophy with Manchester United, what would he have said?
A couple of seconds pass by as the 30-year-old considers how his career has changed. Then: “Deal!”
The smile on his face sums up the near absurdity of the scenario. He has joined a squad full of winners, but after 419 games, this is his first medal.
“In the Netherlands I played two cup finals, lost both of them,” he said. “This was the third time. Of course that's something special and of course you put in all the hard work, hard effort to get really something in your head.
“I just took a moment [after the game]. I can do really tough or I can do really cool but for me this is a childhood dream. A childhood dream to play for this amazing club, to play a final and also be important in this final with [the assist for] the second goal.
“You have to take a minute otherwise everything is passing you by before you even notice and before you’ve enjoyed it. So, yeah, I took a moment there and that was the greatest moment of the evening.”
This might have been the first medal of Weghorst’s career, but the celebrations from the rest of the squad were just as passionate. Raphael Varane and Casemiro are serial Champions League winners. Martinez won the World Cup two months ago. They all showed how much this meant to them and Weghorst has noticed how together the squad he has been thrown into is.
“You see it you see it a group, you can feel it in a group. It's been living (in the group),” he said. “Of course the manager was the first one who was always putting the tension on it, saying ‘no, we're living to win’.
“There's a great feeling within the club, within the team, the lads together. I mean, to be honest, it’s something special to notice this. We win the first one now and still three to go so, yeah, hungry for more.”
And for all the quality in the squad, the loudest cheer as the trophy made its way along the Royal Box was reserved for Ten Hag.
“He’s living for it. You can feel it – really detailed how the way he works, the way we work every day, every match,” said Weghorst. “A lot of attention on where our opportunities... so he’s, first of all, a great manager with a lot of quality, definitely connects the two things together. It's a great combination.”
READ NEXT:
