A World Cup penalty shoot-out: for the players it's the ultimate test of nerve and skill, for fans it's time to watch between your fingers and pray for divine intervention. But why is it so hard for an elite footballer to score a free shot from 12 yards? Through interviews with journalists, psychologists, players and goalkeepers, FourFourTwo delves deep into the science of the spot-kick.
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00:00I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy to go out there and have to take a penalty in a
00:23penalty shootout.
00:26Please don't miss. Please don't miss. Please don't miss. It's not a nice place to be.
00:33Yeah, I've never been under so much pressure mentally, physically.
00:41I think the number one rule of penalties is do not change what you're comfortable with.
00:45Make a decision and stick to it.
00:48When the moment arrives, you define it, or it defines you.
01:18Well, a penalty shootout is different from taking a penalty in the match because you
01:26get the thing where teams are in the centre circle or on the halfway line. You have to
01:31walk all the way to the penalty spot, which is unique because that doesn't happen in a
01:36football match because normally you're surrounded, you're in the box and then you pick it up
01:39and you put it on the spot and you go and take it.
01:41A penalty shootout is a little bit different. You've got more time to think than on any
01:45other penalty you'll probably ever take in your career. And obviously it's also in a
01:49World Cup. It means more.
01:52Us players are brought up in an environment where it is 22 players on the pitch, 11 on
01:57your side. So there are moments in a game for long periods where you aren't the focal
02:02point for most of the game. You aren't the focal point of the team. So that's what you're
02:07used to. That's where you're comfortable. When you go out for a penalty, it's you against
02:11a keeper. 1v1, you're the focal point. It's a big difference.
02:24A free shot from 12 yards can be hard because the temptation for distraction can enter into
02:32an athlete's mind. Neuroscience and psychology has proved that the brain behaves differently
02:40under conditions of anxiety. When athletes are first learning movements for real, they
02:46use a very conscious area of their brain called the ventral stream. When they become expert
02:55at their field in their chosen task, a different area of the brain is activated and that's
03:01called the dorsal stream. So when an athlete performs under conditions of potential pressure,
03:07anxiety literally switches a different area of the brain into action and it turns what
03:15should be an effortless, fluent, expert, natural movement into something that can feel very
03:23awkward, very difficult and very complex. Normally that happens because athletes overthink
03:31the situation. In psychology there's a term called paralysis through analysis and that
03:37means that I can overthink, overcomplicate the moment in its simplicity.
03:44So the first shootout in a World Cup was in 1982 and it couldn't have been more dramatic.
04:03It was West Germany against France in the semi-final. This was the first World Cup that
04:08was shown all around the world in colour TV. So the images are really much more impactful
04:14now as well. What we saw is that the first four penalties were scored. West Germany's
04:19Uli Stillecker stepped up to take the penalty for the Germans and he missed. As soon as
04:25he missed, he fell to the ground and put his hands over his head and he curled into a ball
04:31like a little baby. And what we were seeing was the power of the penalty was incredible.
04:38It could turn an athlete, an elite athlete who was playing for his country, into an infant
04:46who was crying. And the pictures showed that Stillecker was walking back to the centre
04:50circle. He had tears streaming down his face because he thought he'd lost the match for
04:55the Germans. And in fact, the next player to take the kick for France, we almost missed
05:00him taking his kick because the camera was so focused on the tears of Stillecker. But
05:05that was Didier Cisse. He didn't want to take a penalty because he felt he was injured.
05:09But he took it and he also missed. So it's back to Even Stevens. And the next player
05:14to take for France was Maxime Bossis. Again, another player who didn't really want to take
05:18one and he was asking around, who wants it, who wants it? And Jean Tigana, the France
05:23midfielder, said no. There are a couple of other players that said no. So Bossis went
05:26up to take it and he missed. And he also, as soon as he missed, crouched down. So we
05:31were seeing the impact that missing a penalty had on these powerful individuals. Germany
05:36went on to win the shootout. But the overriding sense from that shootout was that penalties
05:43are traumatic and they're dangerous. And they can turn an athlete into something that he
05:48doesn't want to be. They can reduce an athlete to tears and to shame and to an infantile
05:53state. And that penalty shootout really had an impact that has lasted a very, very long time.
05:58It was so dramatic.
06:16Well, we're playing for England in the 1990 World Cup against Germany in the semi-finals.
06:21Germany took the lead with a fluke, deflected goal from a free kick, hit Paul Parker and
06:26it just looped up over Pete Shilton. I managed to equalise with 10 minutes to go. So it went
06:32to extra time. Then it went to penalties, which was the first penalty shootout that
06:36England had been involved with at that stage. And it was 3-3. Both teams had scored their
06:44first three penalties. I took the first one. And then Platt and Beardsley scored as well.
06:50And then sadly for us, Stuart Pearce smashed one, hit the goalkeeper's legs or hip or something.
06:57And then Chris Waddle blazed one high and wide and we were out. And it was desolation.
07:21I took two penalties in my whole life. I scored one, I missed one. But it's not a nice place
07:29to be. Even in the Champions League final, I was next. If Anelka hadn't missed that penalty,
07:35I was actually next. And I was thinking, my legs, I was actually holding up. I was being
07:40held up because my legs were that shaky.
07:50The initial reaction to penalty shootouts by players and teams would be as you would
07:59expect. The winners thought it was a great idea and the losers would say, this is really
08:03unfair. But that really reached its peak in 1994 when it was the World Cup final that
08:09was to be decided on a penalty shootout. And this was the first time a final had been decided
08:14on penalties. And we all know what happened. Roberto Baggio kicked his penalty over the
08:20top of the crossbar. Brazil won the World Cup. The Italians, some of whom actually felt
08:26that it was an unfair way to decide such a big game. Baggio was one of them. He didn't
08:31want to be in that position and obviously be remembered for such a tragic moment. But
08:35not all of Baggio's teammates agreed. In fact, Daniele Massaro, who also missed a penalty
08:40in the shootout, said, I'm still a fan of the shootout. I can't think of anything
08:45fairer to decide a match between 11 players who cannot be decided unless you use a penalty
08:53shootout, which is the ultimate test of nerve, skill and ability.
08:58We go to penalties and we sought the five guys who were about to take the penalties.
09:13And I always like to go up first to try and get off to a good start. But of course, I'd
09:19taken a penalty in the 90 minutes against them. So I was thinking, what is the goalkeeper
09:26thinking? Is he thinking I'm going to go the same way or am I going to change my mind
09:29and go to the opposite side? I went to his right-hand side high with the first penalty
09:36and I stuck to that. And I thought, you know what, if I hit it hard enough and put it to
09:42where I want to go, then the keeper shouldn't stop it anyway, irrespective of whether he
09:46guesses right. Fortunately, it was the right decision. But that walk from the halfway line
09:53to the penalty spot is such a long walk. And if you're not experienced, then there's
09:58all sorts going through your mind. Other players can change their mind at the last minute,
10:03which we've seen is fatal at times. You can't do that. It's the one thing you shouldn't
10:07do. You should always stick to what you've practised. And if you catch it right, it should
10:11be in the back of the net.
10:23My penalty kick against Portugal in 2006, the difference for me in not being successful
10:29and generally I was pretty successful with penalties was that I had worked so hard on
10:34practice, which is one thing. I always did that. But what I did do was I had studied
10:39the Portuguese goalkeeper, studied his previous saves in his last games and decided to change
10:44my usual technique. And I think the number one rule of penalties is do not change what
10:49you're comfortable with, make the decision and stick to it. I changed and he saved it.
10:53Those who are successful in the moment to perform under pressure when it matters, have
10:58the capacity to stay centred, composed and focused in the moment. The famous case of
11:05Perlo in the European Championships against England. When such an amount of pressure was
11:11on that moment, he chose to embrace the moment, to be completely composed, to watch, to see
11:18where the goalkeeper went and then place the penalty straight down the middle with
11:22a little chip. Supreme composure. Steps into the moment, fully ready, prepared. So responding
11:31to those moments is about how well an athlete can stay in control of their emotions, stay
11:38in control of their thoughts and bring the energy back to themselves instead of focusing
11:45on the potential distraction around the moment.
11:51Having been involved in penalty shootouts, having taken penalties and of course having
11:56watched penalty shootouts as a pundit, I can tell looking at someone with the walk, with
12:04the body language, with the look in their eyes when they're walking to take that penalty,
12:10when they place it on the spot, when they take their 4-5 yards walk back and then they
12:15turn around, you can tell whether they're feeling confident and whether they're going
12:18to score or not.
12:19The important thing is for me, I had a technique that I used to practice 30, 40, 50 penalties
12:24every single day and I would only practice the penalty that I was going to hit in a match.
12:28So by doing that, people always say, yeah but you practice but it's not the same under
12:34pressure. Of course it's not the same under pressure but if you've got repetition and
12:38repetition and you can trust your technique, that will help you even if it's a small percentage
12:43come that moment. If golfers never practice their putting because it's different come
12:50the tournament, well that makes no sense at all.
12:53In the World Cup 2014 in Brazil, quarter-final, Holland I guess, Costa Rica and Van Gaal decided
13:05to put me on for the penalties. It was extra time at the time and they decided to change
13:12me for Jasper Sillese because he had a lot of faith in me and he trusted me, he'd seen
13:19me in training saving a few penalties and he made a big gamble and he put me on playing
13:26against Costa Rica.
13:27No, it was planned before the game. We've had a lot of meetings about penalties before
13:33every game, we analysed all the penalty takers and before the game in the hotel, the goalie
13:40coach pulled us and said there's a big chance if it goes to penalties, you're going to come on.
13:46Initially I thought it wasn't really serious, I thought it was more like you're doing well
13:51in training, keep it up and your chance will come but ten minutes later he pulled me again
13:57and he said make sure you keep it quiet but there's a massive chance, we've got a lot
14:01of faith in you.
14:15When it got to extra time the nerves really started kicking in and the realisation that
14:19it actually could happen, yeah it was weird, it was really weird but really exciting and
14:25then I started my warm-up with ten minutes to go and I got the call to get changed and
14:34come on and then you realise how big the stage is to come on into the World Cup playing for
14:40your country.
14:41We analysed it because Costa Rica had a penalty shoot-out in the game before but in the shoot-out
14:50against us they all went a different way.
14:52For me personally I could see it in their eyes, the two I saved were really nervous,
14:57you could see the pressure was getting to them and the other two looked at me with a
15:03smile so they were quite more confident in their qualities.
15:09If you're the kick-taker you are in control of that movement, you're in control of that
15:14kick.
15:15So if your perspective is I am in control, you're much more likely to be successful.
15:21If you believe that the goalkeeper on the other hand stands a better chance than you,
15:25you're likely to be successful.
15:27So if you're the kick-taker you are in control of that movement, you're in control of that
15:34If you believe that the goalkeeper on the other hand stands a better chance than you,
15:37you're likely to be anxious.
15:39The truth is the ball is the same size, the goal is the same size and athletes that are
15:44confident taking penalties in that moment are normally the ones that have practised
15:47and rehearsed and have a routine to stay anchored in the moment, to avoid distraction, to avoid
15:54anxiety.
15:55Hazard in the FA Cup final versus Manchester United at Wembley, almost for an instant,
16:02just nanosecond, looks up, looks to the left-hand side, tricks the goalkeeper, goes to the right-hand
16:07side.
16:08It's a very subtle art of saying that I'm in control and I'm going to force you to go
16:15the wrong way.
16:17Stay completely composed and pick my moment.
16:20That's elite performance, that's elite mindset.
16:22I've never seen that before in my whole career when I first faced, I think it was Hazard
16:29and I was still in the middle waiting for him to put his head down to react and it was
16:33already in the back of the net.
16:34So yeah, it's definitely experience, it's definitely the experience where you see moments
16:43happen again and patterns.
16:59I was expecting my favourite anecdotes in the book to come from players who had missed
17:03penalties because that's where the stories are of tragedy, of loss, almost of trauma
17:09as well.
17:10Stories like Miroslav Djukic who missed a penalty for Deportivo La Coruña in the last
17:15minute of the 1994 La Liga season that would have won Depor the league title.
17:20Or Martin Palermo who missed three penalties for Argentina in one game against Colombia.
17:27Diego Maradona said about him afterwards that he was the bravest player on the pitch because
17:31he'd already missed two penalties and you need serious balls if you've missed two penalties
17:36and you're still taking a third.
17:38Those stories are amazing but for me the memorable stories are of the players who scored against
17:43the odds almost and became heroes as a result.
17:46Like Antonin Panenka in 1976 whose penalty, chipped penalty down the middle of the goal
17:53very slow won Czechoslovakia the 1976 European Championship.
17:58Panenka had been practising that penalty for two years before he took it and he told me
18:04that had he missed that penalty he would have been punished.
18:07He thinks he would have spent the rest of his life down the mines.
18:11Enormous courage, spontaneity but also hard work and effort went into that one penalty.
18:18I also like the penalty that Brandi Chastain took to win the 1999 Women's World Cup for the USA.
18:25It was a pivotal moment in the development of women's football in that country and around the world.
18:31So the impact of that was enormous.
18:33Those two penalties really had an impact beyond just that penalty itself.
18:49Taking a penalty in a World Cup shootout is the ultimate test of nerve and dealing with pressure in football.
18:57It's our moment of glory. Progress to the next round in such a big tournament is the pinnacle for a goalkeeper.
19:07In terms of nerves and dealing with nerves and pressure it is the big moment in a footballer's life.
19:13But if you practice and you stick to what you've worked at and practice and have the belief
19:18and that is a huge thing when you're taking penalties, belief and confidence.
19:22And if you've done your homework you should know whether the goalkeeper you're facing has died for his last five or ten penalties.
19:28Have you taken a penalty against him before? If so, where did you put it? Did you score? Where did he go?
19:32You should know all of that. You should be prepared.
19:34But being prepared is one thing, knowing where he's going to go and what you want to do.
19:40The execution obviously is the big thing and that is where your practice comes in.
19:45You've got to relish that moment. That's the most important thing for me.
19:48This is a chance to show the world that you've got a massive amount of bottle.
19:54And the chance to show off is something that mere mortals never get the chance to do in that sort of position.
20:01So just get it done.
20:40Get it done.