The World Cup is moving into the knockout stage now which together with joy and thrill is the deadly penalty. This do-or-die way of deciding the winner of the match has created some of the most memorable moments in World Cup’s history, and many of the big stars have tasted the bitter feeling of failing the shootout including Diego Maradona, Michel Platini and David Beckham.
Arguably the most famous World Cup penalty failure of all-time, Roberto Baggio, Italy's star player throughout the tournament in America 1994, stood head-bowed in horror after he skied the penalty that handed Brazil the World Cup. Since then, Baggio's glittering career was forever haunted by his woeful penalty shot against Brazil as he described in his autobiography "Una porta nel cielo " – A door in the sky
World Cup players are generally the best in the game so technically they should not have any trouble finding the back of the net. However, stepping up to take a penalty is a nerve-wracking situation with the weight of expectation and responsibility enough to turn the strongest legs to jelly.
From the goal keeper’s point of view, the body language of the penalty shooter gives the goalie the first clue about what is on his opponent’s mind. Famous Oliver Kahn of Germany said "You can read a lot from the body language of the player and where he is thinking of placing it…It is a psychological duel between the goalkeeper and the penalty taker”. By understanding the body language signal, the goalie can find ways to distract the opponent’s concentration as Kahn mentioned: "You can irritate him with your body language, you can see whether a player is fearful and you can see from his eyes if he makes a small mistake into which corner that ball will go."
Some of the psychological tricks that have been used before including jumping on the left before diving to the right (Jens Lehmann – Germany in 2006 against Argentina), suddenly giving a stop hand signal before the shootout, or a steely stare towards opponent (Petr Cech , Czech Republic). A non popular but rather effective trick was used by Ricardo – Portugal when facing David Bechkham in 2006. He waited for Beckham to come close to the spot, and said short warning sentences with hand gestures that his eyes would watch the ball carefully. Arguably, that is enough to make a star player like Beckham crack under the pressure. (See clip below). Others may hold the football, bounce it up and down and give to shooters. Whatever way it is used, so long as the shooter is distracted or intimidated, the goalkeeper has the better chance of success.
Czech Republic keeper Petr Cech believes that besides body language, homework and preparation are what needed to save a goal: "You have to do your homework, you know where the player can shoot, what his habit is, if he waits for the goalkeeper or if he chooses the corner.” On the other hand, Kahn admitted that he didn't remember anything he had researched about his opponents when his side Bayern Munich beat Valencia on penalties in the 2001 Champions League final: "I still remember very clearly, I was working with my coach Sepp Maier to figure out what all the players' tactics were. But I forgot all about it. I went straight into a phase of absolute concentration. I couldn't hear the crowd, the supporters nothing." Obviously, you don’t need so much preparation like Jens Lehmann goalie from Germany who kept a personal note of each shooter’s favorite position in his shin pad.
Thus, it is important for goal keepers to stay strong, calm, confident and be in the state of absolute concentration. They also need the ability to recover mentally very quickly after missing a shot to prepare for the next one. These are complicated skills that usually demand some sport psychology involvement.
Lastly, some affirmation is greatly effective to build up confidence. One valuable comment by Kahn that is worth mentioning to your goalie is: "Takers are the ones that can lose in a penalty shootout, goalkeepers are the ones that can win in the shootout and ultimately become the heroes."
If you would like to have some advice regarding mental training for penalty kick from sport psychology consultant, you can contact me at sportpsychologyconsultants@gmail.com
