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‘Come on, chip me!’ – How Memphis Depay was psyched out by Gibraltar keeper and learning support helper to miss penalty
BARCELONA star Memphis Depay was outfoxed by a part-time keeper and teaching assistant when the Netherlands faced Gibraltar.
The Dutch superstar was tricked into missing a penalty when stopper Bradley Banda resorted to mind games in the David vs Goliath encounter.
GettyMemphis Depay let the mind games get to him from the penalty spot[/caption]
GettyThe Dutch star saw his penalty saved by Gibraltar keeper Bradley Banda[/caption]
Depay stepped up to take a spot-kick after team-mate Stefan de Vrij had seen his goal-bound header blocked by the arm of Gibraltar’s Graeme Torilla.
But the minnows’ keeper Banda – who works as a part-time teaching assistant – had done his homework and was eager to let the forward know about it.
He told the Mirror: “A couple of nights before the game, I was sat in my hotel room and I thought, just in case, I am going to have a look at Memphis Depay’s penalties.
“I noticed a trend that he liked to chip the ball a lot, so I went and had a word with him, and I said ‘Come on, let’s see it, chip me!’
“I thought these guys are a completely different level of professionalism; their standards are all the way up there, and it’s a completely different level.
“I thought ‘the only way I will be stopping this is if I try to level the playing field’ so I begged him to go down the middle.
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“And in that last split second, I read his body position, I went, and then it happened.”
The psychology worked as Banda flung himself on Depay’s tame penalty to stun a packed De Kuip stadium in the World Cup qualifier.
In truth the save made little difference to the result – the Netherlands were already 1-0 up and would go on to score another five against their part-time opponents.
And not long after Depay had his revenge from the spot as he smashed in a penalty on the stroke of half-time.
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