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.
01:51Us 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.
03:43So the first shootout in a World Cup was in 1982 and it couldn't have been more dramatic. It was
04:04West Germany against France in the semi-final. This was the first World Cup that was shown all
04:09around the world in colour TV. So the images are really much more impactful now as well. What we
04:16saw is that the first four penalties were scored. West Germany's Uli Stilleke stepped up to take
04:21the penalty for the Germans and he missed. And as soon as he missed, he fell to the ground and put
04:27his hands over his head and he curled into a ball like a little baby. And what we were seeing was
04:34the power of the penalty was incredible. It could turn an athlete, an elite athlete who was playing
04:42for his country, into an infant who was crying. And the pictures showed that as Stilleke was walking
04:49back to the centre circle, he had tears streaming down his face because he thought he'd lost the
04:54match for the Germans. And in fact, the next player to take the kick for France, we almost missed him
05:00taking his kick because the camera was so focused on the tears of Stilleke. But that was Didier
05:06Cisse. He didn't want to take a penalty because he felt he was injured. But he took it and he also
05:11missed. So it's back to Even Stevens. And the next player to take for France was Maxime Bassis. Again,
05:17another player who didn't really want to take one. And he was asking around, who wants it, who wants
05:21it? And Jean Tigana, the France midfielder, said no. There are a couple of other players that said
05:25no. So Bassis went up to take it and he missed. And he also, as soon as he missed, crouched down.
05:30So we were seeing the impact that missing a penalty had on these powerful individuals. Germany went on
05:36to win the shootout. But the overriding sense from that shootout was that penalties are traumatic,
05:43and they're dangerous. And they can turn an athlete into something that he doesn't want to
05:48be. They can reduce an athlete to tears and to shame and to an infantile state. And that penalty
05:54shootout really had an impact that's lasted a very, very long time. It was so dramatic.
06:16Well, we're playing for England in the 1990 World Cup against Germany in the semi-finals. Germany took the lead
06:21with a fluke, deflected goal from a free kick, hit Paul Parker and it just looped up over Pete
06:27Shilton. So I managed to equalise with 10 minutes to go. So it went to extra time. Then it went to penalties,
06:34which was the first penalty shootout that England had been involved with at that stage. And it was
06:413-3. Both teams had scored their first three penalties. I took the first one. And then Platt
06:49and Beardsley scored as well. And then sadly for us, Stuart Pearce smashed one, hit the goalkeeper's
06:55legs or hip or something. And then Chris Waddle blazed one high and wide. And we were out. And it was desolation.
07:19I took two penalties in my whole life. I scored one, I missed one. But it's not a nice place to be. Even in the
07:31Champions League final, I was next. If Anelka hadn't missed that penalty, I was actually next. And I was
07:38thinking, my legs, I was actually holding up. I was being held up because my legs were that shaky.
07:49The initial reaction to penalty shootouts by players and teams would be as you would expect. The winners thought it was a
08:01great idea and the losers would say, this is really unfair. But that really reached its peak in 1994, when it was the
08:07World Cup final that was to be decided on a penalty shootout. This was the first time a final had been decided on
08:14penalties. And we all know what happened. Roberto Baggio kicked his penalty over the top of the crossbar. Brazil won the
08:23World Cup. The Italians, some of whom actually felt that it was an unfair way to decide such a big game. Baggio was one of
08:30them. He didn't want to be in that position and obviously be remembered for such a tragic moment. But not all of Baggio's
08:37teammates agreed. In fact, Daniele Massaro, who also missed a penalty in the shootout, said, I'm still a fan of the
08:43shootout. I can't think of anything fairer to decide a match between 11 players who cannot be decided unless you use a
08:53penalty shootout, which is the ultimate test of nerve, skill and ability.
08:58We go to penalties. We sought the five guys who were about to take the penalties. I always like to go up first to try and get off to a
09:18good start. But of course, I'd taken a penalty in the 90 minutes against them. So I was thinking, what is the goalkeeper thinking?
09:27Is he thinking I'm going to go the same way or am I going to change my mind and go to the opposite side? I went to his right-hand side,
09:33high with the first penalty and I stuck to that. I thought, if I hit it hard enough and put it to where I want to go, then the keeper
09:44shouldn't stop it anyway, irrespective of whether he guesses right. Fortunately, it was the right decision. But that walk from the
09:52halfway line to the penalty spot is such a long walk. And if you're not experienced, then there's all sorts going through your mind. Other
10:00players can change their mind at the last minute, which we've seen is fatal at times. You can't do that. It's the one thing you shouldn't do. You
10:08should always stick to what you've practised. And if you catch it right, it should be in the back of the net.
10:23My penalty kick against Portugal in 2006, the difference for me in not being successful and generally I was pretty successful with penalties was
10:31that I had worked so hard on practice, which is one thing. I always did that. But what I did do was I had studied the Portuguese goalkeeper, studied
10:40his previous saves in his last games and decided to change my usual technique. And I think the number one rule of penalties is do not change what
10:49you're comfortable with, make a 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 the capacity to stay centred, composed and focused in the
11:03moment. The famous case of Perlo in the European Championships against England. When such an amount of pressure was on that moment, he chose to
11:13embrace the moment, to be completely composed, to watch, to see where the goalkeeper went and then place the penalty straight down the middle with a
11:22little chip. Supreme composure. Steps into the moment, fully ready, prepared. So responding to those moments is about how well an athlete can stay in
11:36control of their emotions, stay in control of their thoughts and bring the energy back to themselves instead of focusing on the potential distraction around the moment.
11:51Having been involved in penalty shootouts, having taken penalties and of course having watched penalty shootouts as a pundit, I can tell looking at someone with the
12:03walk, with the body language, with the look in their eyes when they're walking to take that penalty, when they place it on the spot, when they take the 4-5 yards walk back and then they turn around, you can tell whether they're feeling confident and whether they're going to score or not.
12:19The important thing is for me, I had a technique that I used to practice 30, 40, 50 penalties every single day and I would only practice the penalty that I was going to hit in a match. So by doing that, people always say,
12:32yeah, but you practice, but it's not the same under pressure. Of course, it's not the same under pressure, but if you've got repetition and repetition and you can trust your technique, that will help you, even if it's a small percentage, come at that moment.
12:45You know, if golfers never practice their putting, because it's different come the 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 to put me on for the penalties. So it was extra time at the time and he decided to change me for Jasper Sillese because he had a lot of faith in me and he trusted me, he'd seen me in training saving a few penalties.
13:21And yeah, he made a big gamble and he put me on playing against Costa Rica.
13:27No, it was planned before the game. We've had a lot of meetings about penalties in front of, before every game, we analyze all the penalty takers.
13:37And before the game in the hotel, the goalie coach 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 was, he wasn't really serious. I thought it was more like, oh, you're doing well in training, keep it up and your chance will come.
13:54But 10 minutes later, he pulled me again.
13:57He said, well, make sure you keep it quiet, but there's a massive chance.
14:00So we've got a lot of faith in you.
14:02When it got to extra time, the nerves really started kicking in and the realization of it actually could happen.
14:22Yeah, it was it was weird.
14:23It was really weird, but really exciting.
14:25And then I started my warm up with 10 minutes to go.
14:29And I had, yeah, I got the call to get changed and come on.
14:35And then you realize how big the stage is to come on into the World Cup, playing for your country.
14:41We analyzed it because Costa Rica played, they had a penalty shootout in the game before.
14:49But in the shootout against us, they all went a different way.
14:52So for me personally, I could see it in their eyes.
14:54The two are safe.
14:56We're really nervous.
14:57You could see the pressure was getting to them.
15:00And the other two looked at me with a smile.
15:04So they were quite more confident in their qualities.
15:21If you're the kick taker, you are in control of that movement.
15:25You're in control of that kick.
15:27So if your perspective is I am in control, you're much more likely to be successful.
15:34If you believe that the goalkeeper, on the other hand, stands a better chance than you, you're likely to be anxious.
15:39The truth is the ball is the same size.
15:42The goal is the same size.
15:43And athletes that are confident taking penalties in that moment are normally the ones that have practiced and rehearsed
15:49and have a routine to stay anchored in the moment to avoid distraction, to avoid anxiety.
15:55Hazard in the FA Cup final versus Manchester United at Wembley.
16:00Almost for an instant, just a nanosecond, looks up, looks to the left-hand side.
16:04Tricks the goalkeeper, De Gea, goes to the right-hand side.
16:08It's a very subtle art of saying that I'm in control and I'm going to force you to go the wrong way.
16:17Stay completely composed and pick my moment.
16:20That's elite performance.
16:21That's elite mindset.
16:22I've never seen that before in my whole career.
16:24When I first faced, I think it was Hazard first.
16:29And I was still in the middle waiting for him to put his head down to react.
16:32And it was already in the back of the net.
16:34So yeah, it's definitely experience.
16:38It's definitely the experience where you see moments happen again and patterns.
16:52I was expecting my favourite anecdotes in the book to come from players who had missed penalties,
17:04because that's where the stories are of tragedy, of loss, almost of trauma as well.
17:10Stories like Miroslav Djukic, who missed a penalty for Deportivo La Coruña in the last minute of the 1994 La Liga season
17:18that would have won Depor the league title.
17:21Or 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
17:31because he'd already missed two penalties.
17:33And you need serious balls if you've missed two penalties and you're still taking a third.
17:38Those stories are amazing.
17:39But for me, the memorable stories are of the players who scored against the odds almost and became heroes as a result.
17:46Like Antonin Panenka in 1976, whose penalty, chipped penalty, down the middle of the goal, very slow,
17:55won Czechoslovakia the 1976 European Championship.
17:59Panenka had been practising that penalty for two years before he took it.
18:04And he told me that had he missed that penalty, he would have been punished.
18:08He thinks he would have spent the rest of his life down the mines.
18:12Enormous courage, spontaneity, but also hard work and effort went into that one penalty.
18:19I also like the penalty that Brandi Chastain took to win the 1999 Women's World Cup for the USA.
18:26It 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.
18:35Those two penalties really had an impact beyond just that penalty itself.
18:43TAKE THE PENALTY
18:51Taking the penalty in a World Cup shootout is the ultimate test of nerve, dealing with pressure in football.
18:58It's our moment of glory. Progress to the next round in such a big tournament is the pinnacle, obviously, for a goalkeeper.
19:08In 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,
19:19and that is a huge thing when you're taking penalties, belief and confidence.
19:22And if you've done your homework, you should know where the goalkeeper that 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?
19:33You should know all of that. You should be prepared.
19:35But 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.
19:49This 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.
20:31You've got to relish that moment. That's the most important thing for me.