March 19th, at the Charlton Athletic U18 training ground locker room.
Head Coach Damian Matthew was not in a good mood.
Last weekend, not only did the U18 team lose, but the Charlton Athletic First Team also lost, suffering a crushing 0-4 defeat to their EFL Championship promotion rival, Millwall.
Their ranking had also dropped to 4th place.
No one ranked near the top wanted to play in the EFL Championship promotion play-offs; the margins between everyone were razor-thin, and anyone winning or losing was normal.
This failure also put pressure on the entire club coaching staff.
At this moment, Head Coach Damian Matthew spoke up: “Guys, settle down.
Tomorrow’s home match against Coventry U18—our goal is to win the match.” Then he began to announce the starting lineup.
As for the other starting positions, everyone knew well how they had been playing for such a long time.
Only the goalkeeper position became the focus of everyone’s attention.
Previously, Binks was basically the starter, and Connor Gough, being young, could occasionally go up to gain experience as the backup goalkeeper.
But when the original third-choice goalkeeper, that slacker Theo, suddenly seemed to awaken, the situation changed significantly.
Now, in regular training, it was obvious that Theo’s form and ability were better.
In previous matches, he had also made great saves, managing to keep a clean sheet even when facing danger.
However, there was still some discriminatory atmosphere within the club’s upper management.
Most people were not very fond of a mixed-race goalkeeper.
But now it had reached the point where they had no choice but to use him.
The club owner was unwilling to invest funds, the youth team was facing a talent gap, and the First Team was riddled with injuries.
If not for their previous foundation, it was unknown whether the First Team would still be able to remain in the promotion play-off zone.
It was only because there was still hope for promotion to the EFL Championship; otherwise, those fanatical Charlton Athletic fans would have stormed the club’s gates.
Now, even in the U18 youth team match, he was unwilling to lose again.
He swept his gaze back and forth between Theo and Connor Gough.
Finally, he announced the starting goalkeeper: “Connor Gough.” March 20th was the match day for both the U18 youth team and the First Team.
This time, both were playing at home against their respective opponents.
For the home fans, this was a football feast.
Moreover, the times for the two matches were staggered, which led to many people coming to watch the games.
The U18 match venue was still at the training base stadium.
Before the match had even started, 1,800 fans had already poured into the stands.
At 11:00 AM, the match began.
Theo, wearing a vest, sat on the bench watching the game.
In the first half, both sides played quite dull football, and neither had many chances.
When it ended, the score was 0-0.
But the situation changed dramatically in the second half.
In the 52nd minute, after Pell coordinated in midfield, he made a 45-degree angled pass.
Azeez suddenly cut inside, broke into the penalty area, and chipped the ball into the goal.
Charlton Athletic U18 took the lead.
The scene suddenly became lively, and the fans started singing and dancing.
Perhaps feeling the atmosphere, the Charlton Athletic players on the pitch wanted to press their advantage and bombarded Coventry, but under the opponent’s tight defense, they did not score any goals.
In the 60th minute, after Coventry intercepted the ball in the backfield, they made a long pass to the front.
The opposing striker, Robert Ogilby, bypassed the advancing Ajayi.
Relying on his speed advantage, Ogilby received the pass and broke into the penalty area.
With no other choice, Connor Gough chose to rush out of the goal, coming to the edge of the penalty area, wanting to block this one-on-one opportunity just like Theo would.
However, Ogilby’s recent form was truly red-hot; he had scored in both of the previous two matches.
Seeing the goalkeeper rush out, he gently chipped the ball with his toe, and it flew over the goalkeeper’s head.
Just as he wanted to turn and bypass the goalkeeper, Connor Gough dove straight onto Ogilby’s feet, tripping him.
“Beep beep!” The referee ran over directly and pointed to the penalty spot.
“Penalty!” The fans at the scene were not happy.
“Fuck!
That’s a dive!
He’s fishing for a penalty!” “Damn referee!” However, no matter how the fans in the stands made a fuss, the penalty decision was unchangeable.
Most importantly, the referee pulled out a red card.
The Charlton Athletic players began to surround the referee to argue, hoping to change it to a yellow card.
The Charlton Athletic U18 head coach also protested to the fourth official on the sidelines, but it was clearly useless.
The referee did not change the decision.
Forced to act, Charlton Athletic began to make a substitution.
When the referee pulled out the red card, Theo had already been called up by Assistant Coach Steve Avery to warm up.
The players’ protests actually bought him a few minutes of warm-up time.
By the time the substitution happened, he had already put on his gloves.
In the 66th minute, striker Bobo was taken off, and Theo was substituted on.
The fans had completely different attitudes toward this.
Some fans, remembering the previous home match where Theo saved a penalty, were full of confidence and cheered for him.
Others were still unhappy that Binks could not play.
There were even some extreme fans who wanted Theo to get out of England.
Theo ignored all of this.
In Europe or other countries in the world, one would encounter all kinds of prejudiced people.
For such people, Theo’s idea was simple: beat them into submission.
Inside the Charlton Athletic U18 six-yard box, Theo assessed the situation in front of the goal and began preparing to face the penalty.
Because of the earlier protests by the Charlton Athletic players, a lot of time had been wasted, and Morris even received a yellow card.
Now that the match was resuming, the referee did not want to waste any more time.
He signaled for the penalty taker, Ogilby, to begin.
The fans in the stands were constantly making various gestures, waving flags, and shouting, trying to attract the opposing striker’s attention.
Theo stared fixedly at Ogilby’s eyes, wanting to put some pressure on him, but the opponent didn’t even look.
Ogilby was also completely unfamiliar with Theo and did not know his goalkeeping technical characteristics.
He could only play in the way he was most accustomed to.
After the referee blew the whistle to start, he accelerated his run-up, aimed for the angle, and blasted a shot with his right foot.
When the opponent started running, Theo had already been prompted: [Ding!
Detected opponent’s shooting trajectory, threatening the goal!
Do you want to activate Block Moment?] Theo did not hesitate.
Now the team was playing with one man down.
If they were leveled, the opponent’s morale would likely soar, and they would besiege Charlton Athletic’s goal.
Besides, his skill count was not infinite.
Furthermore, he could not tolerate his goal being breached.
[Use!] The trajectory of the football had already appeared in Theo’s mind.
0.3 seconds later, at the moment the opponent kicked the ball, Theo moved quickly one step to the left along the goal line.
At the moment the ball was shot, Theo had already leaped into the air.
Ogilby, as a center-forward, was 1.92 meters tall.
However, this powerful right-footed shot sent the football high and fast, heading straight for the top corner of the goal.