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LISA MULLINS: In England this past weekend, it was Manchester United versus Tottenham in a soccer final. The game went down to the wire and came down to a penalty shootout.

ANNOUNCER: Here's O'Hara, left-footed... saved by Foster, diving to his left. He pushed it wide and Manchester United have a 1-nil advantage!

ANNOUNCER: Yeah, an excellent save. Great height as well. He just guessed the right way.

MULLINS: Or maybe he didn't guess the right way. Just maybe Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster knew where the hit was going to go. Turns out that Foster has studied some clips of how Tottenham had kicked penalties in previous games – not in the locker room before the match, but on the field with his Ipod just before the kick. BBC sports reporter Alex Capstick is in London. Tell us the story of what happened.

ALEX CAPSTICK: Well, Lisa, this was the first big domestic soccer final of the English season. The match between Manchester United and Tottenham, held in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium here in London. Ben Foster, he isn't the first choice goalkeeper at Manchester United. He replaced Edwin Van Der Sar for this match. After extra time, it finished nil-nil. Foster had distinguished himself during the game with some excellent saves, but now he was faced with the penalty shootout. Ben Foster was handed his Ipod from the trainer, on which had been downloaded a compilation of video clips of Tottenham players taking penalties in previous games. So it gave him an idea of where they might place the ball when it came to the spot kick. It was time well spent because it got Manchester United off to a flying start with that save, and United went on to win the penalty shootout 4-1 and win the Cup.

MULLINS: Okay. So when he was handed his Ipod and he was reviewing the previous penalty shots made by the opposing team, Tottenham, how long did it take?

CAPSTICK: Just a few minutes. It's about a 7 or 8 minute break between extra time and penalties. He would have studied the video clips as well beforehand in preparation for this final, but I don't think we've seen it before where a goalkeeper has taken an Ipod during the game, which is what it was even though there was a break, and actually looked at how players were going to take the penalties.

MULLINS: The trainer handed it to him? Do you know if he had asked for it, if he knew what was on it, or if the trainer is saying, “Here. Take a look at this.”

CAPSTICK: Yes. He knew exactly what was on it. The goalkeeping coach at Manchester United is new this season, so it was an innovation of the club and Foster was delighted that he had managed to do that. So he knew what was going to be on the Ipod, he knew what he was looking at. And we should say as well there have been one or two complaints that it's against the spirit of the game, but it certainly isn't against the rules. The English Football Association, they make the rules here in England, say it's okay. Although it's worth remembering that FIFA, that's soccer's world governing body, have banned the use of technology after it's become public knowledge. Earpieces, so that players can receive instructions from their coaches, are not allowed. That after they found out that they were being used by some teams.

MULLINS: Yeah. And there are many technologies -- happens over here as well, that are still forbidden. But apparently they haven't caught up with the Ipod just yet. Do you know by the way if Manchester United won the game because of the last-minute brief that this guy got?

CAPSTICK: Well, not exactly. I mean, he only saved one penalty but he only needed to save one penalty. Tottenham did score one but they missed the other one. Again, in that case, Ben Foster had dived the right way.

MULLINS: And that was -- we should say that was kind of the key. I mean, he was looking at which way Tottenham used to kick.

CAPSTICK: Absolutely. And crucially, he saved the first penalty. So that gave the moral advantage and the actual advantage to Manchester United. And it was crucial because the odds are stacked against the goalkeeper in a penalty situation. So you would expect really a professional sportsperson to use all the tools at his disposal to make it a little more difficult for the penalty taker. Tottenham, who lost the shootout 4-1, are probably wishing their goalkeeper had done something similar.

MULLINS: All right. Thank you very much. BBC sports reporter Alex Capstick in London. Thanks a lot.

CAPSTICK: Thanks, Lisa.

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