Watch keeper score, make winning save in England's longest shootout ever
Chelsea's U-23 side and Oxford United combined to break the record for England's longest penalty shootout on Wednesday, with a whopping 34 spot kicks needed to finally decide a winner. Those 34 kicks are a new English record per ESPNFC, and enough for each player to take one, and then some!
Imagine going to the spot in a shootout (which is typically decided in five kicks) not once, but twice. Penalty kicks are such a mind game, anyway. Would you change directions? Go the same way? It has to be exhausting for the keeper, too. Or so you'd think. It turns out that Chelsea's young keeper, Bradley Collins, emerged as the hero from the marathon shootout in the Checkatrade Trophy match.
That is an absolute wave of relief that washes over him when he makes the stop. Not only did he score the game-winner, he then immediately stepped in between the posts and made the decisive save as the Blues won 13-12. The Chelsea Academy still finished last in their group in the Checkatrade Trophy, but at least they'll have this historic memory.
The previous record for a penalty shootout in England was a tie with two matches that needed 32 kicks to decide a winner. That number jumps up significantly on the global scale, though. Just this past June, two Czech teams combined for 52 penalties to determine a winner.
Phew!
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