Getting the edge in penalty shootouts
Getting the edge in penalty shootouts
Posted: 2010-06-29 12:02
For many teams, the knockout stages of the World Cup signals the daunting prospect of a nail-biting penalty shoot-out.
While most managers will make the necessary preparation to prime their strikers for football’s ‘lottery’, it is the goalkeeper that often has the team’s destiny in his hands.
But now, thanks to Castrol, penalty-takers will have to think twice about where they place their spot-kick. Goalkeeping legend and Castrol ambassador Peter Schmeichel helped launch the Castrol EDGE Penalty Analysis initiative – a new and unique online system that can give goalkeepers the upperhand when it comes to shoot-outs.
Castrol’s team of Performance Analysts have studied every penalty taken in Europe’s top five leagues and the Champions League over the last four years, plus a number of international matches, to create the Castrol EDGE Penalty Analysis initiative.
Fans and goalkeepers can use the Castrol EDGE Penalty Analysis to research their rival’s penalty takers and goalkeeper’s success rate, find out where they place their spot-kicks, and get tips on how to perform under pressure.
Fans can download the penalty charts from each player or even download the “Castrol EDGE Penalty Cheat Sheet”, which will provide an at a glance view of every player and goalkeeper’s recent penalty history for any match combination chosen.
In addition, Castrol has studied every penalty taken in the last five World Cups, both in matches and penalty shoot-outs, by teams who made it to South Africa to understand the impact the pressure can have on players, and can now exclusively reveal:
- Just 58% of midfielders manage to convert spot-kicks in shoot-outs
- The older a player is, the less likely he will score - with only a 71% success rate in the over 28s
- Left footed players only convert 50%, compared to 69% for right-footed players
- Goalkeepers wearing red jerseys have never saved a penalty at a World Cup, whereas those wearing green save the most!
And when analysing every shoot-out spot kick in World Cup history, Castrol discovered that pressure does have a huge part to play. In penalty shoot-outs, only 40% of takers score if their team’s survival depends on it, whereas when a player’s spot-kick can win the game for his team, he has a 92% chance of scoring.
Speaking at the launch of the Castrol EDGE Penalty Analysis, Schmeichel said: “Penalty shoot-outs are the most high-pressure situation that a goalkeeper will face and in a World Cup it’s even worse because the stakes are so high.
“Goalkeepers can try to prepare by researching their opposition; we all know that Jens Lehman did his homework in 2006 against Argentina and it paid off for the Germans. He made two crucial saves. It’s far, far better to be prepared ... the more you know about the other team the better.”
“During a big tournament, it is the small details that make big differences. Knowing where a team will usually place a penalty can be the difference between winning or losing.”
Castrol Performance Analyst Dr Geir Jordet, a sport psychologist from the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, said: “Since 1982, 10 of 14 World Cup finalists had to encounter a penalty shoot-out at some point in the tournament. Penalty shoot-outs in major tournaments are decided by the players’ abilities to cope with pressure.
“The importance of each shot, the player’s age, his status, his gaze behaviour and the times he spends preparing his shot are among the factors that we know impact whether a player will cope successfully with pressure. In essence, the penalty shoot-out is a psychological game and the outcome of most shots is determined before the ball is even touched.”
It is not only goalkeepers who need to stay calm in such high pressure situations. With the spotlight on the kicker, the occasion can often be too much for even the most experienced of penalty takers. Castrol Ambassador Cristiano Ronaldo reveals how he manages to keep a cool head: “I’m very used to handling pressure in these situations. Of course it is always important to practice penalties and it’s not easy when you are out there, but you just have to focus on scoring and winning the match.”
* For more on the Castrol EDGE Penalty Analysis, visit Castrol Football
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