2023-05-02 11:59:21
The magnifying eye of the camera zoomed in, then unmasked the cheat sheet… which was in no way illegal. The label stuck on the gourd of the Everton goalkeeper nevertheless had an influence on Monday evening on the fate of the Premier League meeting between Leicester and Everton (2-2). The Liverpool-based club, penultimate and struggling to maintain itself, owes a proud debt to Jordan Pickford, its 29-year-old international goalkeeper.
The latter stopped a penalty shot by opposing attacking midfielder James Maddison in first-half stoppage time. His recipe? Pickford has a habit of collecting the statistics of the penalty takers he faces and sticking them on a water bottle which he places next to his goal. The numbers indicated that Maddison was hitting full center 60% of the time. The English goalkeeper therefore did not move and pushed the ball away.
“The cameraman was good tonight,” Pickford joked after the match at a press conference after seeing the image of his stat-scraped water bottle broadcast on television. It’s true that Maddison is used to shooting in the middle. He expected me to dive so I double bluffed. It’s a great moment in the game and I’m happy. I saved it because that’s what I’m here for, to help my teammates when they make mistakes. I did my homework this morning looking at what I should do in the event of a penalty. »
The goalkeeper did not fail to send a small spade, in passing, to his teammate in the selection of England, unfortunate shooter of the penalty. “Madders needs to learn his lesson,” he told Sky Sports. You don’t have to play poker. »
#England #Jordan #Pickfords #brilliant #cheat #sheet #water #bottle #helps #stop #penalty