‘Arsenal don’t have the team spirit Birmingham City do’ – Ben Foster explains reason for League Cup success

Ben Foster of Birmingham City(Getty Images)

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Birmingham City goalkeeper Ben Foster has hailed his side’s team spirit after their 2-1 victory over overwhelming favourites Arsenal in the League Cup final.
The shot-stopper starred at Wembley, thwarting an array of Arsenal attempts that threatened to see the Gunners win their first trophy in six years.

Despite the heroic nature of his performance, Foster hailed the mentality of the Birmingham dressing room.

“I’ve said all week, it’s just 90 minutes of football and anything can happen,” he told Sky Sports.

“The spirit we’ve got in there, it’s amazing. They may have a lot of quality players but they haven’t got the team spirit we’ve got.”

With most writing off the Blues’ chances in their encounter with Arsenal, Foster has said that the unexpected victory is the highlight of his career.

“Apart from the birth of my two children that is the greatest feeling I’ve ever had in my whole life. Brilliant. Unbelievable,” he said.

“We knew Arsenal were going to have chances and a lot of possession but thankfully I just got my body in the way.”

At the different end of the spectrum was Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny. The Pole could face an inqusition as to his role in Zigic’s opener, flapping behind the towering front man as he nudged a header beyond the keeper’s grasp.

His role in Birmingham’s second, though, cannot be debated. A communicative break down between the keeper and Laurent Koscielny saw the defender wildly swing for a ball that looked troubleless to Szczesny. The ball then bounced off the goalkeeper and into the path of substitute Obafemi Martins, who gleefully tucked into the empty net.

Foster feels that Szczesny should not take too much flak for his performance.

“He’s got an unbelievable future ahead of him,” added Foster.

“I think he’s come in for the last couple or so games and he’s been absolutely amazing. The pressure he must have been feeling.

“He’s just got to put it behind him [the error in the final] and move on, because he looks an amazing prospect.”

Foster’s dominating performance saw him awarded man of the match, harking back to when the goalkeeper achieved the same feat in Manchester United’s cup triumph of 2009.

Of his past success in the competition, Foster said: “This is a very nice feeling, it’s massive for me.

“With United you’re expected to win it but we’ll celebrate tonight, properly, because this is a huge achievement and you can see all the fans going absolutely wild and they deserve it.”

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