Chapter 48 Big Heart, Spoon Penalty

E. Francis saw the moment when Li Qing dunked the ball and sought physical contact. According to the relevant rules, this was a very wonderful frontal defense and a reasonable physical collision, but the referee's whistle suddenly sounded, leaving him a little at a loss.

Liverpool U18 head coach Neil Critchley saw the referee pointing to the penalty spot and excitedly high-fived Gerrard and Mike Garrity to celebrate.

In sharp contrast, Manchester City U18 head coach Lee Carsley excitedly opened his hands and kept patting his right shoulder with his left hand, as if telling the referee that this was a reasonable physical contact.

However, the referee was very confident in his judgment. Facing the appeal of the Manchester City U18 players, he remained unmoved and insisted that E. Francis was a foul.

As the person involved, Li Qing stood aside, rubbing his left shoulder with his right hand, which was still a little painful.

Although E. Francis's collision just now was a reasonable collision, there was nothing to say about this kind of physical contact after the referee blew the whistle. Who made him not touch the ball?

Of course, the referee was able to award a penalty because he had a talent for diving.

Manchester City U18 head coach Lee Carsley shook his head helplessly. He saw it clearly just now. The collision was reasonable, but there was nothing wrong with the referee's penalty. Many times, the penalty of a football match depends on the referee's subjective judgment in a split second.

The on-site broadcaster gave a slow-motion replay of the physical confrontation between E. Francis and Li Qing. The TV commentators with the qualification to broadcast were divided into three groups. One group believed that it was a reasonable collision, another group believed that the collision was a foul, and the last group was neutral, believing that it was up to the referee to decide whether to award or not.

All the dust settled, and Manchester City U18 players could only accept the reality. Liverpool U18's top penalty taker Glenn McCauley should be the first choice for the penalty kick, but he saw that Li Qing had already held the football in his arms, and it was obvious that he wanted to take a penalty kick.

Glenn McCauley, who had done nothing in this game, raised his eyebrows. As the team's top scorer, he had done nothing in this game so far. If he didn't perform again, he had a strong feeling that he would return to the bench, so he was very eager to score a goal, even if it was just a penalty.

However, at this moment, head coach Neil Critchley blew a large homemade whistle. He turned his head and saw clearly that the head coach made a two-handed grabbing motion and pointed at Li Qing.

The meaning he wanted to express was very obvious, that is, Li Qing would take the penalty.

"Ah~"

Glenn McCauley sighed. With Li Qing's outstanding performance in the U18, his status in the team was constantly declining.

However, considering that Li Qing contributed 11 goals in four league games and two goals in the first half of the Youth FA Cup, no matter which head coach would place his hopes on a player with a good foot.

He stood outside the penalty area and stared at Li Qing, with an immature thought in his mind: "Is this...really only fifteen years old?"

...

Li Qing put the ball on the penalty spot, then retreated to the penalty area line, ignoring the booing Manchester City fans behind the net.

His young face was full of determination, waiting for the referee's whistle.

"Beep~"

The reason why he wanted to take the penalty kick was not entirely for a hat trick, but more because of his shooting skills and penalty kicks 80+, plus the additional 20% goal rate brought by the accurate shooting LV2, which almost meant that the penalty kick here was completely equal to a goal.

There won't be too many opportunities to challenge Manchester City U18 as a guest, so instead of giving it to Glenn Macaulay, who has been in poor form recently, it's better to take this responsibility himself.

"Beep~"

The referee whistled, Li Qing concentrated and held his breath, and started to run up.

At the same time, goalkeeper A. Muric shook his body up and down, left and right, hoping to use this exaggerated body movement to influence Li Qing's next penalty kick.

He clearly remembered the head coach talking about Li Qing's resume. Born in February 2001, he was still more than half a month away from turning 16. Could such a young player have good psychological quality?

He didn't believe it!

Li Qing took the last step forward, with his right foot about 20 centimeters to the right of the football, his body tilted to the right, about 60 degrees from the ground, and then exaggeratedly swung his left foot.

A. Muric raised his eyebrows. He really couldn't tell which angle Li Qing was going to kick the ball.

It wasn't until the moment Li Qing's left foot touched the football that his eyes suddenly lit up, and a long-lost victory smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "No matter how calm you are, you can't score a goal against a penalty expert like me!"

Bottom right corner!

What's the truth?

Li Qing's exaggeratedly raised left foot did not take a powerful shot, nor did he kick the ball towards the lower right corner of the goal as A. Muric had judged. Instead, he retracted 80% of his strength at the moment of touching the ball, and only rubbed the bottom of the football with the inner side of his instep...

"Oops!"

A. Muric's body had already pounced to the left side of his body, which was the lower right corner of the goal according to his own judgment.

The football kicked by Li Qing flew softly to the middle of the goal. In theory, even an amateur goalkeeper could easily hold such a ball, but the problem was that A. Muric made a move in advance to save the penalty kick, which meant that he could only watch the football slowly fall to the middle of the goal where he was originally standing...

Li Qing, who scored his third goal in this game, was not as excited as the previous two goals. On the contrary, he was relatively calm, with his arms open, waiting for his teammates to come forward to celebrate.

The coaches and substitutes in front of the visiting team's coaching bench huddled together, cheering crazily for Li Qing's wonderful spoon penalty kick.

Gerrard's appreciation was getting stronger and stronger. A player who was not yet sixteen years old actually used a very spectacular spoon penalty when the score was tied. This... is really a big heart.

Liverpool coach Klopp, looking at the broadcast screen of Li Qing, murmured: "Just based on your spoon penalty, I have to promote you to the first team!"

Of course, Klopp is not an impulsive person. Li Qing has proved that he is much better than most U18 players through his performance during this period. There is not much room for improvement to U23, only... the first team!