Full-Level Pass, Please Call Me The Boss Of The Three Lions

The game was won.

Chapter 103 The last penalty, a penalty shootout! (4,000-word chapter)

Most of the fans and football critics who predicted that Arsenal would end the game within 90 minutes before the game were impressed by Leicester City’s tenacious performance.

They never thought that a Championship team could be so close to Arsenal, the “gunners” who have been in the top four of the Premier League for many years, and finally decided the winner with a penalty shootout.

This made them start to think about a question:

Is Arsenal too weak, or is Leicester City too strong?

For Leicester City’s fans and supporters, the fighting spirit and desire to win shown by Leicester City in this final made them very happy.

They can’t wait to see how Leicester City will perform in the top league after being promoted to the Premier League!

Players from both sides came to the sidelines to replenish water, and the head coaches of both sides began to arrange the penalty shooters.

In terms of the penalty shootout experience of both sides, Arsenal has a certain advantage.

Although neither Arsenal nor Leicester City had practiced penalty shootouts before the game.

However, Arsenal eliminated their opponent in the semi-final against Wigan Athletic through a penalty shootout.

Leicester City, on the other hand, is the first to conduct a penalty shootout this season.

And it was in a crucial game like the FA Cup final.

The penalty shooter will definitely bear huge pressure.

Therefore, the first player must be the one with the best penalty kick skills and the most reliable candidate in the team.

Pearson spoke first as his eyes scanned the players’ faces:

“Jamie, you go first!”

Upon hearing this, Vardy just nodded grimly.

Putting Jamie first is the easiest choice.

Vardy, the team’s top scorer and the one who scored 100% of the league’s penalty kicks, was the first candidate to step onto the penalty spot!

“Anthony (Connockate), you’re the second.”

“Andy (King), you’re the third.”

“Danny (Drinkwater), you’re the fourth.”

“Ling, you’re the fifth!”

Everyone was a little surprised to hear that the coach arranged Ling Feng, the youngest player in the team, as the fifth and most critical penalty shooter.

But no one objected or raised any objections.

Of course, Pearson had his own considerations for such a decision.

First of all, Ling Feng’s physical fitness is one of the best players in the team.

In penalty shootouts, players often lose their physical fitness, causing the shooting action to be deformed in an instant, and the shot is shot or missed.

Therefore, the better the physical fitness, the less likely it is to make mistakes in the shooting action.

Secondly, Ling Feng is recognized as a big scene man in the team.

The more critical the moment, the more calmly this 18-year-old young man can deal with the unpredictable situation on the field and make the most reasonable choice.

When the team fell behind, he assisted his teammates or scored goals to reverse the situation, which is a vivid example!

What’s more, if it weren’t for Ling Feng’s two assists, they would not be able to drag the game into a penalty shootout.

So, no matter what the consideration is, it is reasonable to let Ling Feng take the last penalty.

As for the head coach’s arrangement, Ling Feng was stunned at first, and then nodded seriously, indicating that he understood.

Being arranged to take the last penalty, Ling Feng felt the head coach’s trust in him.

There is definitely pressure.

After all, this penalty shootout is about the first FA Cup championship in Leicester City’s more than 100-year history.

Having reached the final and fighting with Arsenal for 120 minutes, Ling Feng certainly hopes to win the championship.

So, in his opinion, what he has to do now is to put these distractions behind him and focus on this penalty.

This was the first penalty in his career.

No matter what, he had to score!

As for whether he could win in the end, it depended on the performance of his teammates and opponents.

In case, all his teammates scored and the opponent missed two, he would not even have to play.

Or if all his opponents scored and his teammates missed two, he would not have to play.

Football has never been a one-man sport.

All he could do was to do what he could do well!

After letting the assistant coach hand over the penalty list to the fourth official, Pearson came to his players again.

He knew very well that even if they entered the penalty shootout, they would still be at a disadvantage.

Because the opponent’s goalkeeper Fa

In the penalty shootout against Wigan Athletic in the semi-final, Bianski saved two penalties from the opponent.

Therefore, he has a certain psychological advantage in entering the penalty shootout again.

Of course, Pearson did not tell his disciples about this.

At this time, the last thing to do is to increase the psychological pressure on the players.

Therefore, Pearson just shared the opponent goalkeeper Fabianski’s saving habits with his disciples, and then stood in a circle with his disciples and shouted a loud cheering slogan:

“Blue Fox, go!”

. . .

After the coin toss, Leicester City got the opportunity to take the first penalty.

In a penalty shootout, any detail may affect the final result.

Among them, according to FIFA statistics, the party that takes the first penalty has a 60% chance of winning in the end.

This is easy to understand.

There is indeed a certain advantage in taking the first penalty in a penalty shootout.

Penalty shootouts, apart from the luck factor, are a psychological game between players.

From the perspective of psychological pressure, the first penalty kicker has the greatest pressure, but it can put pressure on the opponent.

As long as the first penalty kicker scores, the pressure on the opponent’s player who takes the penalty kick will increase by one point, and the pressure on his teammates will be reduced by one point.

Of course, this probability problem does not apply to every penalty shootout.

Just like the semi-final between Arsenal and Wigan Athletic, Wigan Athletic took the first penalty kick, but missed the penalty kicks one after another.

There are too many factors that affect penalty shootouts, such as luck, mentality, shooting skills, etc. The coaches and players of both sides can only find ways to tilt the balance of victory to their side.

That’s all.

The first player to take the penalty kick for the Foxes was Vardy.

He took the ball from the referee and slowly walked to the penalty spot amid the boos and cheers in the stadium.

After putting the ball in place and straightening it, Vardy slowly stepped back.

After taking three steps back, he stopped.

Then, he stared at the grass in front of the ball, waiting for the referee’s whistle to sound, and then he rushed towards the ball.

At the moment of shooting, he didn’t even look at the goal, and just shot it with a “bang”!

The speed and angle are both good!

Although Fabianski jumped in the right direction, he didn’t touch the ball.

After scoring the penalty, Vardy immediately punched the cheering fans in the stands to celebrate.

The Leicester City players standing in a row at the arc of the center circle applauded him. It was Arsenal’s turn.

The first player to take the penalty for Arsenal was the veteran Rosicky.

Obviously, Wenger hoped that Rosicky’s rich experience would bring a good start to the penalty shootout.

And Rosicky did not live up to the trust of the “professor”. Run-up, push shot, and it was done in one fell swoop!

Schmeichel guessed the direction of the ball wrong and jumped to the other side.

The first penalty kicker of both teams scored.

The score was 1-1.

The second penalty kicker for Leicester City was Anthony Connockate, a 22-year-old former French U21 international.

Ever since he missed the most important penalty kick in his life in last year’s promotion play-offs, Connockate has been practicing penalty kicks, ready to stand on the penalty spot again at any time.

Pearson arranged him to take the second penalty kick to give him a chance to make up for his regret last year.

And Connockate did not disappoint Pearson!

He stood in front of the ball and kicked it into the lower right corner of the goal with a low kick.

After scoring the penalty kick, Connockate suddenly felt that the demon that had been lingering in his mind for a whole year disappeared in an instant.

He was also much more relaxed.

Connockate, relieved, couldn’t help but roar to the sky, then turned around and made a fist to signal his teammates in the center circle.

As if to say: “This time, I didn’t disappoint you like last year!”

And the fans and teammates responded to him with encouraging applause.

The second penalty kicker for Arsenal was the team’s starting center, “The King of Heaven and Earth Tiger” Giroud!

In this game, Giroud performed very well. Although he did not score or assist, he fully played the role of a big center in the frontcourt.

Not only did he fight with Morgan and Moore in the penalty area, but he also came to the top of the arc from time to time to pass the ball to his teammates.

Giroud’s performance made the French coach Deschamps in the stands very satisfied, and also made Leicester City coach Pearson realize the importance of a big center in the frontcourt.

“Steve, maybe we should ask Brighton how much the Argentine is worth”

Just as Pearson and Walsh were discussing the team’s summer transfers on the sidelines, Giroud also completed the shot.

The penalty kick taken by the center forward of Arsenal and the French national team was powerful.

Even though Schmeichel guessed the direction correctly and made a judgment in advance.

However, he still watched the ball fly from his fingertips into the net, splashing white waves.

Both sides scored the first two penalties.

Andy King, who came on as a substitute in overtime, was full of energy and had a strong foot.

He shot directly and hit the top corner of the goal, continuing to put pressure on the next Arsenal player.

Arsenal’s third penalty was taken by Sanogo, the substitute center forward who came on in overtime.

Seeing this little black man take the ball to his mouth and kiss it, Ling Feng had an inexplicable feeling.

This ball might be missed!

First of all, Xiao Hei’s brain has never been very good, and he has poor psychological pressure tolerance.

Especially in such a stressful penalty shootout, the brain is likely to short-circuit.

Secondly, the action of kissing the ball shows that he is unsure and needs to pray for the ball.

Therefore, Ling Feng stared at Sanogo’s back and kept muttering in his heart:

“Fight~plane! Fight~plane!”

Perhaps it was the first time to participate in a penalty shootout, and in such a crucial game as the FA Cup final, Sanogo was indeed a little uneasy.

At the same time, he was always holding back a lot of energy in his heart.

This season, he had very little playing time and could only be Giroud’s substitute most of the time, which made him, who had a high self-esteem, feel dissatisfied.

He really wanted to prove to Wenger that he was capable of starting.

Therefore, at the moment of shooting, he almost used up all his strength to exert force, as if he wanted to shoot the ball.

The next second, the ball turned into a black afterimage and shot straight to the top of the goal.

And Schmeichel just subconsciously raised his hands, but he couldn’t block the ball.

Then, there was a crisp sound of “clang”, and the ball that hit the crossbar did not bounce into the goal, but bounced out!

The slightly trembling crossbar also made the hearts of tens of thousands of Gunners fans in the stadium tremble.

Seeing Sanogo miss the penalty, they all showed an incredible mask of pain.

Even Wenger on the sidelines showed a surprised expression for the first time.

Then, a trace of disappointment flashed across the eyes of the Arsenal godfather.

He knew very well how important this penalty was to Arsenal and him.

Realizing that he might have kicked away the team’s most likely championship in nine years, Sanogo held his head with both hands, and suddenly felt that his world had become gray.

It’s over!

It’s all over!

Standing there for a while, he was called back to the cruel reality by Fabianski’s shout.

Turning around, he didn’t even dare to look at his teammates. He pulled up his jersey to cover his face and lowered his head back to the center circle.

Although they wanted to beat this guy, the other Arsenal players held back.

Captain Koscielny even patted his shoulder to comfort his fellow black man who was about to cry.

There was no way, penalty shootouts were too much of a test of the players’ mentality.

What could they do if their teammates missed a penalty?

They were a team.

To win, we win together, to lose, we can only lose together!

Watching Sanogo miss a penalty, the Leicester City players standing in the center circle also breathed a sigh of relief and then clapped their hands to celebrate.

They knew very well that they had taken the initiative in this penalty shootout.

Only the last two penalties were left, and if they were all scored, they would be able to have the last laugh in this fierce battle!

The player who took the fourth penalty for Leicester City was “Drinking Brother” Drinkwater.

Perhaps it was because Sanogo had just missed a penalty that relieved him of the pressure in his heart.

He didn’t do anything fake, and he shot the ball in with a low shot!

Fabianski, who guessed the direction correctly again but failed to save the ball, kicked the goal post angrily and walked away from the goal.

Because he knew very well that he had failed to save the ball and only had one last chance.

The fourth penalty player of Arsenal was Ramsey. “Death” mercilessly shot the ball to the right side of the goal and flew into the net close to the goal post.

The next second, he opened his arms and waved to the red Arsenal fans’ stands.

Seeing this, the Gunners fans cheered enthusiastically. Obviously, Ramsey tried to call on the fans to cheer for the team, thereby influencing the Leicester City player who took the last penalty.

“Ling, it’s up to you.”

Amid the blessings of his teammates and the boos of the Gunners fans, Ling Feng walked slowly towards the penalty area.

He

Unexpectedly, the key to the outcome of the game fell on him in the end!

As long as he scored this penalty, the game would be over.

They would be able to win the second championship of this season, and the first FA Cup in Leicester City’s history in 130 years!

Ling Feng didn’t think about what would happen if he didn’t score.

Because he firmly believed that he would score this penalty!

His firm belief made every step he took powerfully.

He came to the penalty area, took the ball handed by the referee, and then put it on the penalty spot.

He stepped back a distance, looked at the goal, roughly estimated the width of the goal, and then retracted his sight.

He didn’t look at goalkeeper Fabianski, but was just thinking about whether to shoot at the lower left corner or the lower right corner of the goal later.

His shooting skills were not good, and his shooting power was not high.

However, his shooting accuracy was still good.

Especially facing Fabianski, who is 1.9 meters tall and relatively slow to land, hitting the two lower corners of the goal is the best choice.

Taking a deep breath, Ling Feng’s eyes were stern, and he stared at the ball closely.

Beep!

As the referee’s whistle sounded, Ling Feng ran forward, and according to the feeling of using [Putter Master] every time, he pushed hard with the inner arch of his foot!

In an instant, the ball shot out and flew straight to the lower right corner of the goal!

At the same time, Fabianski also flew sideways and pounced on the right side of the goal!

He guessed the direction right!

However, because the shooting angle was too tricky and close to the grass, he didn’t land that fast.

In the end, before Fabianski’s fingertips touched it, the ball went into the goal from the inside of the goal post!

No more tonight, I’m a little tired these days and stayed up late a lot, I’ll write it tomorrow.

Good night everyone

(End of this chapter)