Team Spirit

Chapter 36 Penalty Shootout, Saint Luke
"From this moment on, Lu Kai's performance on the court surpassed Steven's."

"Although Steven scored three goals and had one assist, he missed a crucial penalty kick that decided the outcome of the match."

"Lu Kai scored two goals and had one assist, but he saved a crucial penalty."

"In the direct confrontation between the two MVPs, Lu Kai emerged as the winner!"

Then all the Dartford players went to the midfield and Lu Kai took a free kick from the backcourt.

But Dartford created no further threat.

As the Guernsey player kicked the ball towards the center circle, the referee blew the whistle.

Overtime ends.

The two sides tied 4-4.

The game entered the penalty shootout stage.

This was also the first time Dartford had been involved in a penalty shootout.

The Guernsey fans began to cheer.

Their players also found the goalkeeper and gave him their blessings.

This is the goalkeeper they have been looking for recently. He has played in the fifth and sixth level leagues for several years.

The pressure in Dartford is very low.

Although Lu Kai just made a super save, but...how could such good luck come a second time?
A penalty shootout is the most severe test of a goalkeeper's shot-saving skills and psychological endurance.

Lu Kai is an outsider and there is no way he can handle it.

Many female fans on the sidelines had tears in their eyes.

Jiang Mengyun covered her chest with her hands and didn't even dare to watch the next scene.

Soon, Lu Kai won the coin toss.

He can choose which side of the goal to take the penalty on, or choose the order in which they take the penalty.

Lu Kai chose to kick first.

As for the goal... There are only seventy-eight seats at the Pond Stadium, but today there are nine hundred fans, all standing around the stadium.

Whichever side you choose, they will gather and give Dartford a home atmosphere.

And... Lu Kai, who has seen big data analysis, knows that before 2014, the side that took the penalty kick first had a higher winning rate.

There are five rounds in total in a penalty shootout, but it does not have to be played in full. For example, if you are leading 3-0 and the opponent only has two rounds left, there is no way they can win, so the shootout can be ended early.

If the game is tied after five rounds, an additional round will be played to determine the winner. If the game is still tied, another round will be played... The most penalty shootouts in the top five leagues was in the Europa League qualifier between Ajax and Panathinaikos, which lasted seventeen rounds and ended with Ajax winning by a narrow margin of 13 to 12.

The first player to take a penalty for Dartford was Eastwood.

Coming from a professional youth training system, his shooting skills are quite reliable.

But as he kicked the football away, the pond stadium fell into despair.

Bad start!

"Oh! Eastwood was too focused on the angle and ended up hitting the ball away. He put too much pressure on himself."

"Dartford is on the defensive."

On the Guernsey side, center forward number nine comes on the field.

Lu Kai drank water on the right side of the goal, and after drinking, he placed the mineral water bottle twenty centimeters outside the right post.

Except Alfred, no one noticed Lu Kai's "normal behavior".

"This is..." Alfred had a bold guess, but he was not sure.

That kind of genius idea is something that even Ferguson never had.

Soon, Guernsey's number nine player fired a powerful shot.

Lu Kai misjudged the direction.

As he flew through the air, the Dartford fans were already in despair.

boom!
The football knocked the mineral water bottle away.

"Ah... this... 0-0! Both teams missed their penalties in the first round."

"Guernsey's number nine is very experienced. He kept looking towards the left side of the goal to confuse Lu Kai. He succeeded. Lu Kai dived in the wrong direction, but his subsequent shot went wide of the goal."

"What a shame, it was only twenty centimeters off! It missed by a tiny bit!"

The first thing Lu Kai did after landing was jump up, clench his fists in celebration, and let out a deep roar: "Ah!"

Dartford's morale was boosted.

"It's that bottle of water!" Steven found the problem.

Alfred was also proudly explaining to Jiang Mengyun and Emily, "Some players will deliberately not look at the direction of their shots to confuse their opponents, and only use their peripheral vision to roughly determine the boundary." "And that bottle of water confused the Guernsey players' definition of the goal."

“It’s a very smart approach.”

"Although the possibility of it working is very low, once it works, it's worth it!"

Dartford's second penalty kick was Ashley Young.

Although he is young, his personal abilities stand out in the team, and this is also a necessary path of training for him.

boom!
boom!
Influenced by Eastwood, Ashley Young's shot was more conservative and closer to the middle.

The Guernsey goalkeeper easily saved the ball.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

Ashley Young burst into tears on the spot.

Teammates quickly comforted the kid.

A few minutes later, a Guernsey player scored a penalty kick.

Pond Field fell.

"Oh! It was a very extreme angle. Lu Kai judged the direction correctly, but he failed to save it."

"As expected, luck is something that only happens once or twice, but never three or four times!"

"Dartford is behind on penalties and is about to be eliminated!"

The third penalty taker was Michael Duff.

According to research, center backs generally have a higher penalty kill rate than forwards.

This is because penalty kicks actually test the players' psychological qualities more, and central defenders are better able to withstand pressure in this regard.

But Duff's penalty was saved by the opposing goalkeeper.

His lack of physical strength caused him to take longer to build up power for his shot and his movements to be larger, exposing the direction of his shot.

The Guernsey goalkeeper saved two of the three penalties and was like a goalkeeper!

But just twenty seconds later, Lu Kai lifted the football out with one hand.

The pond stadium was instantly boiling!

"Good job!"

"Lu Kai saved the penalty once again! He really has talent for this!"

"This is definitely not a coincidence!"

"His save was very decisive! The penalty score between the two sides is still 0-1! Guernsey failed to expand their lead!"

Fourth, Joey Patton comes on stage.

As the bad boy of England, Barton is definitely strong enough inside.

And his physical fitness is also the best in the team.

Sure enough, he shot a powerful shot and scored the crucial penalty.

The penalty kick score was tied at 1-1!
Both sides are back to the same starting line.

But the prerequisite is that Lu Kai saves the opponent's fourth penalty kick.

This time the opponent's central defender also came to take the penalty.

boom!
The opponent did not try to be vain, he kicked the ball decisively and at an extremely fast speed.

The angle is also good.

Lu Kai judged the direction correctly and tried his best, but the opponent's ball was too fast, it seemed a bit...

"It's hopeless!" Alfred's expression was ferocious, as if the ball was about to hit his face.

However, the next moment, Lu Kai's fingertips touched the football, changing its trajectory.

when!
The football hit the goal post and bounced off.

"Oh! He did it! Lu Kai did it!"

"He made another save!"

"That was a truly incredible save! The goalpost at the Pond Field was instrumental!"

"This is going to be interesting, both sides are about to enter the final round of penalty shootouts!"

"Dartford's fifth penalty taker is... Lu Kai!"

(End of this chapter)