Firth: I thought of Jerzy and Bruce
Liverpool U17s goalkeeper Andrew Firth was inspired by the heroics of Jerzy Dudek and Bruce Grobbelaar on Thursday night, when he helped his side to a dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Corinthians.
The Reds drew the semi-final of the premier Milk Cup Globe 1-1 in normal time, and so the game went straight to penalties.
Firth pulled out all the stops in an attempt to distract the Brazilian penalty takers, swaying about on his line, waving his arms - and even handing the ball to several opponents, a la Dudek in Istanbul.
He dived smartly to save from Matheus Frizzo and then watched in relief as Yan Perin Pinto and Pablo Victor Pires both hit the woodwork and the Reds ran-out 4-3 winners in the shoot-out.
"I'd seen them all before - Dudek in Istanbul, Grobbelaar's wobbly legs in Rome, and I just thought about doing anything to try and put the striker off," said Firth.
"I'll always give it a try and hopefully it will continue to work in the future.
"I can't really remember anything about the individual penalties that were missed and with the one I saved, I was just focusing on trying to read the striker."
Mike Garrity's side controlled the game in the first half, and they edged ahead through Harry Wilson.
The Welsh winger made an instinctive run into the box, where he was clattered by a defender and the referee signalled a penalty, which Wilson converted.
However, Sam Hart's straight red card in the second half meant the young Reds were forced to battle hard to take the game to penalties.
"I thought in the first half we played really well and I thought we had the upper hand, but the red card set us back," explained Firth. "The lads dug in and played really well in the second half.
"We were a little fatigued going into the game - there were a lot of heavy legs this morning, but despite that, I thought we performed.
"After the red card, we had to change formation, change our shape and we needed a couple of substitutes on to freshen things up.
"But we're in the final and that's all that matters. And if we can get a win it will be a great start to the season. It will put the lads on a great high if we get some silverware and it will put us in a great position to push on this season."