There is nothing that breaks the heart than one’s team losing in the penalty shootout, especially bearing in mind the hundred and twenty minutes played full of tackles and sweat. By this I mean, as a coach, a player or a fan.
Many people blame the goalkeepers, smashing them with insults when they fail to save even a single penalty in the shootout. Well, the truth is research has shown that a goalkeeper has only 15 to 25% possibility of saving a penalty. This is because, the goalkeeper stands at the centre of the goal post, leaving a wide space on the sides.
What this means is, the player taking the penalty has a greater chance of converting the kick than it is for the goalkeeper to save. This is the reason why those who lose penalties end up feeling responsible for their team’s loss.
This years World Cup has seen several penalties get awarded, either by the referee or after consulting the VAR. Well many of them were rightfully awarded with a few others being subject to discussions.
In the group stages, more than five penalties were awarded, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo scoring the first penalty of the tournament a day before Lionel Messi lost his in Argentina’s draw against Iceland.
Others who scored penalties in the group matches include Mile Jedinak of Australia, Aleksandr Granqvist of Sweden, Aleksandar Kolarov of Serbia, Ferjan Sassi of Tunisia, Harry Kane of England and many more.
From groups A to H, Russia, Uruguay, Portugal, Spain, France, Denmark, Argentina, Croatia, Brazil, Switzerland, Sweden, Mexico, Belgium, England, Colombia and Japan all made it to the knockouts.
No African country made it past the groups, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt losing their first two matches. The most fascinating fact is that Nigeria and Senegal needed a draw or win in their final matches, but poor concentration and too much a defensive mentality cost them in the end.
Back to the VAR and the penalties, Nigeria were denied a penalty against Argentina for handball reasons and ended up conceding a stoppage time goal from Marcos Rojo.
For Senegal, Sadio Mane was fouled severally in the box against Colombia, before his team got punished in the seventy fourth minute by Yeri Mina; a defender who has scored three headers so far.
The penalty menace did not miss out in the knockouts, a couple of match winners being decided by penalty shootouts. The first shootout occurred during Russia’s win over Spain, Koke and Iago Aspas losing their spot kicks to Russia’s Akinfeev. Russia will face Croatia in the quarter finals.
Croatia versus Denmark also ended in penalties, following a draw in normal and extra time. Luka Modric’s penalty was saved by Kasper Schmeichel in the extra time but the world class midfielder scored during the shootout.
Cristian Eriksen lost the first penalty for Denmark when Danijel Subasic saved. Subasic and Schmeichel were the star men in the shootout, the former saving three and Schmeichel saving two. Croatia qualified by three goals to two and will face Uruguay on Friday.
In another match that has provoked worldwide discussions in the social media, England knocked Colombia out of the World Cup after winning 4-3 in the penalty shootout.
That match experienced intense pressure and high indiscipline with the referee awarding more than six yellow cards. Argentina’s legend Diego Maradona has accused FIFA of employing incompetent officials, claiming the refeee in the England-Colombia clash was totally unable to control the match.
The South Americans lost in the shootouts, thank to England’s goalkeeper Jordan Pickford who saved Carlos Bacca’s spot kick, with Eric Dier converting the decisive one.
With the quarter finals underway, the big question is, will these teams that qualified through penalty shootouts make it? Here is the fixture:
Friday 06-07-2018
@5:00 PM
Uruguay v France
@9:00 PM
Brazil v Belgium
Saturday 07-07-2018
@5:00 PM
Sweden v England
@9:00 PM
Russia v Croatia
