Chapter 28: Promotion
In the face of Northampton's second penalty taker, Ben Foster was unusually calm and did not make a save in advance, and it happened that the opponent took a spoon-like penalty, which he saved.
The moment he saved the penalty, Ben Foster clenched his fists in front of his chest and roared twice with a hideous expression, as if he was venting the emotions stirring in his heart.
The Notts County players were also excited, hugging each other in celebration as if they had won the penalty shoot-out.
Villa, who had just missed a penalty, finally raised his head, and if the team was eliminated from the League Cup because of his missed penalty, then he would really be the sinner of Notts County, but fortunately Ben Foster was able to help and the two sides were back on the same page.
David had already made up his mind that he would have to ask Ben Foster Health Care once again to express his gratitude.
The players on both sides were very calm, scoring penalties one after another, and the penalty score was 3:3, and there was still one player left in each side who had not played.
The last player to come out of Northampton seemed to be a little nervous, and when he set the ball back, he actually slipped under his feet, and he almost didn't fall, you know, this is walking on flat ground.
When Loew saw this almost comical scene, his heart burned and he seemed to have the idea of winning.
All eyes are on the two players, one on the other and on the other, and the fate of the two teams will be decided by them.
Ben Foster, who had just saved a penalty, once again impressed everyone, this time accurately judging the path of his opponent's penalty and saving his opponent's low-quality penalty from the bottom line with a side pun.
There was silence in the audience, and the moment he got up after saving the penalty, Ben Foster took off his gloves fiercely and threw them into the sky.
The Notts County players were tempted to rush over and hug Ben Foster, but the penalty shoot-out wasn't over yet, so they could only hold back their excitement and wait for the last player to take a penalty.
What is a savior, Ben Foster gave everyone the most accurate interpretation today, that is, after saving the opponent's penalty, and then scoring the penalty.
As it happens, Notts County's fifth penalty taker was none other than Ben Foster.
It's no surprise that goalkeeper penalties are not common in football, but they are certainly not uncommon, especially in penalty shoot-outs.
As a goalkeeper, Ben Foster may have a stronger psychological grasp of goalkeepers, as long as it is not a foul footwork, it is not surprising that he will take the penalty.
With a calm face on the penalty spot, Ben Foster switched back, then sprinted and slammed into the ball.
The eyes of the whole court followed the ball, and Ben Foster's powerful volley of the penalty left everyone stunned.
Everyone knows that the more force you have, the less direction you can control, and when you take a penalty, it's more about angle than speed.
But Ben Foster seemed to be a daring artist, and as it turned out, he succeeded.
The half-high ball was originally the easiest for the goalkeeper to save, but due to the excessive speed, the opponent's goalkeeper simply did not have time to react in time, although the save action had been made, but he could only watch the ball pour into the goal in despair.
This time, the Notts County players didn't need to press back their excitement anymore and rushed to Ben Foster together, pressing him hard, while the players on the bench also rushed into the field with excitement and joined the ranks of the Arhats.
David wanted to rush in and join in the celebrations, but seeing Loew's breezy performance beside him, he gave up on the idea.
The Northampton players left the pitch disappointed, but several players offered to exchange shirts with Notts County players, and this was the first time that Notts County players were treated like stars.
David couldn't help but smile, these Northampton players have vision, or luck, you know, the players on the field of Notts County will be famous stars in football in the future, even superstars, but they are far from being limited by the current League Two.
Having won the first round of the Carabao Cup, both Loew and David breathed a sigh of relief that it was really worth celebrating not to be eliminated in the most difficult stage of the team.
Back at the club, there was no day off the next day as the third round of League Two was just around the corner, which would be Notts County's third game in seven days, the legendary three-in-a-week fixture.
This kind of dense schedule makes David complain, but he also knows the situation in English football, 24 teams in League Two, 46 rounds of games in a season, plus the League Cup, the FA Cup, and the English Championship, which only lower-league teams can participate in, even if these three cups are eliminated in the first round, it is almost 50 games in a season.
The next day was just a recovery session, and Ben Foster, the team's biggest attacker, became a big star on the training ground, and the players came over to joke when they had nothing to do, which really made him very helpless.
Diego Lopes needs to recuperate for three weeks, which means that Ben Foster will be the gatekeeper of the team for the rest of the game, which will put him under a lot of pressure.
After the training, Loew and David stayed behind and walked into the manager's office together.
'The result against Northampton wasn't very important, but the fact that the team was able to win the penalty shoot-out in such a difficult situation helped a lot to boost the morale of the team, and if we played a few more games like this, I think the team would have been able to integrate faster!'
Loew poured David a glass of ice water, sat on the couch, and said with a smile.
David nodded, agreeing with Loew's statement, such a game is really morale-boosting and can also enhance the cohesion of the team.
"But now that we've won this game, we're going to have to plan for it." Loew straightened his expression and got to business.
David also sat up straight, which happened to be the purpose of his approach, and it seemed that the two of them wanted to go together.
"It's a lot of depth in the squad, but if we play two games in a week, it's probably going to be hard to get through such a dense schedule, so we need to plan our focus for this season."
"The league is definitely number one and I don't think you should disagree. As for the League Cup and FA Cup, I'd like to hear your thoughts. There's also the British Championships, and my opinion is to give up on the frivolous event. Loew spoke his mind and asked for the opinion of David, the president of the club.