Tim Krul, the hero of the Norwich FA Cup, had the penalty kicks from Tottenham and how they would shoot from his water bottle.
And the preparation paid off: the Dutchman saved the kicks of Troy Parrott and Gedson Fernandes as the Canaries advanced to the quarterfinals of the competition for the first time in 28 years on Wednesday.
Jan Vertonghen’s opening goal seemed sufficient to make it possible for the Spurs to draw at home against Manchester United or Derby, who will face off on Thursday in the last fifth round match. LIVE on talkSPORT!
However, extra time was needed as Michel Vorm, who was chosen ahead of Paulo Gazzaniga to replace the injured Hugo Lloris, overturned a shot from Kenny McLean that Josip Drmic tapped at home 12 minutes from time.
And equality was decided on penalties, Norwich winning thanks to the heroism of Krul in north London.
It was not the first time the 31-year-old had stood after a penalty shootout either.
Krul was injured to replace the Netherlands in their World Cup quarter-final penalty shootout victory over Costa Rica in 2014.
After replacing Jasper Cillessen in the final seconds of the extra 30 minutes, he saved two kicks to reserve the Dutch for their place in the semifinals.
Krul would therefore have been confident facing penalties against Tottenham, and Parrott and Fernandes did not beat him at 12 yards.
The goalkeeper’s water bottle bore the names of Davinson Sanchez, Giovani Lo Celso, Eric Dier, Fernandes, Parrott, Erik Lamela and Oliver Skipp with a prediction of where they would kick.
After eliminating Tottenham from the FA Cup, Krul told the BBC: “Everyone says I’m good on penalties so I knew I had better start saving some of them.
“That’s what it’s about, that’s why we do the work. When you have downtime, that’s what you think of.
“As a little boy, you want to save penalties and get your club through. There are great emotions today.
“My trainer and I are doing our homework, I had them on my bottle, everything happens in a shootout.
“What a place to do it too and for 9,000 fans to be here on a Wednesday night.”