Ben Foster Reveals iPod Secret To Manchester United Penalty Success

Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster today not only kept a clean sheet through 120 minutes of energy-sapping football in today's League Cup final at Wembley, but also made a vital save from Tottenham Hotspur's Jamie O'Hara as his team collected another glittering part of what many are hailing as a seemingly inevitable 'quintuple'.

And Foster has revealed that he received some help from a slightly unlikely source in the lead-in to the shoot-out, courtesy of United's goalkeeping coach, Eric Steele.

"Just before the shoot-out I was looking at an iPod and on it were Tottenham's penalties, including one from O'Hara," Foster told The Daily Telegraph.

"They just told me to stand up, be strong and it will probably go that way. It is a new innovation."

Meanwhile, Foster's manager, Alex Ferguson, hailed his young stopper as the future of goalkeeping for not just the men from Old Trafford but also the England national team, as United's current first-choice, Edwin van der Sar continues his indomitable form in the Premier League and the Champions League.

"The future is his," the United boss said of the 25-year-old glovesman.

"The present belongs to Van der Sar. Given that experience in a final, that strengthens his [Foster's] belief. I think he'll be England's goalkeeper for the next number of years"

Zack Wilson, Goal.com