Between triumph and failure: The miraculous secrets of the penalty shootout

On Sunday, Spain and England will once again do everything they can to avoid the dreaded penalty shootout in the Women's European Championship final. Because no matter what the players plan beforehand, in the end, it's always the little things that decide between triumph and failure.

"Then came the penalty shootout. We were all scared, but for me, it went smoothly." World champion Paul Breitner probably still has the most vivid explanation for the thoughts and emotions that penalty takers experience during a penalty. Back then, in the very first penalty shootout in World Cup history in the summer of 1982 in Spain, the German team ultimately prevailed against France – thus establishing the lasting reputation of a nation capable of nerve-racking penalty shootouts.

Another world champion, Bastian Schweinsteiger, once remarked on this after the 2012 Champions League semifinal with Bayern Munich in Madrid: "I jokingly said: I forgot or lost my balls shortly before my penalty, but then found them again in time. In a penalty shootout, luck is a factor, and we Germans usually have it." The same was true 22 years earlier in Italy, when Germany had to decide the semifinal against England from the penalty spot. Afterward, Franz Beckenbauer said with a grin about his goalkeeper Illgner: "We practiced a lot of penalties in training, but Bodo was a disaster. Our chance lay in him getting shot."

Speaking of England, the British nation has had a tough time converting penalties since the days of Italy in the summer of 1990. The strange forms this ultimately took are illustrated by the example of the quarterfinal against Portugal at the 2004 European Championship. Back then, superstar David Beckham missed a penalty – and afterward, a sad man said: "I was trying to send out positive energy." The failed energy provider was none other than the legendary mental spoon bender, Uri Geller. When even the man with the superpowers failed, England finally resigned themselves to their fate.

VfB goalkeeper with note novelty in the 70s

That this also rubs off on the women was clearly evident in this year's European Championship quarterfinal against Sweden. A new record was actually set in this penalty shootout. Both teams missed a total of nine penalties. Never before have so many penalties been missed at a Women's European Championship! But the English team can do things differently – although, to be fair, only after the rebound. When the late penalty had to be converted in extra time in the semifinal, Chloe Kelly showed nerve and ultimately fired her team to a successful place in the final.

Ever since the legendary note by German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann in the 2006 World Cup quarterfinal against Argentina, it has been popular among goalkeepers to make advance notes about potential scorers. German goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger also noted the opponent's favorite corners on her water bottle.

One of the first footballers in the world to utilize this technique was the Yugoslav goalkeeper Zlatko Skoric, who played for VfB Stuttgart. A football player shouldn't forget that he also has a head for thinking, the goalkeeper said at the time, and jotted down all the idiosyncrasies of Bundesliga shooters in a small notebook: "So it said in my notebook that Müller had just missed two penalties, bottom left. Three days before the game against us, Müller had scored a penalty against Pilsen, bottom right. So, it was clear he would then also aim at me, bottom right. Disregarding the bottom left corner, which was so dreadful for him. That's how it happened, and I saved the penalty." Cleverly done. And that was back in the early 1970s.

"Just slam it in the middle"

The importance of such preliminary studies was once demonstrated by our unforgettable national goalkeeper Harald "Toni" Schumacher, then playing for 1. FC Köln. On matchday 33 of the 1983/84 season, the FC goalkeeper saved a penalty from Friedhelm Funkel in a 4-6 defeat at Uerdingen. Afterward, his curious explanation was: "I saw how Funkel takes penalties on a crime show called "Tatort" on TV." And indeed: A short time earlier, the episode "Such a Day..." had shown a short clip of the Frankfurt vs. Kaiserslautern match. And in one scene: Friedhelm Funkel, then a Kaiserslautern player, during the penalty shootout. Unbelievable.

That this also works the other way around was demonstrated by SV Werder Bremen player Wolfgang Sidka in 1983 during the 1-1 home draw against Cologne: "I watched the penalty shootout against France. Schumacher kept jumping into a corner. So I thought to myself: If you have to take a penalty, just slam it into the middle. Toni will jump away!" And it actually worked.

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But the fact that all these great forethoughts can (and do) fail in reality was once vividly summed up by former Bayern Munich striker Roy Makaay: "If I think the goalkeeper is thinking, and the goalkeeper thinks I'm thinking, then I can just shoot. It makes no difference." Unless the shooter is a former Argentinian defender, about whom his teammate once said: "Alonso is cross-eyed, and no goalkeeper has the slightest idea where the ball will go."

Hopefully, Sunday's final will be decided in regular time or extra time. The fact that a single missed penalty can haunt you for life is demonstrated by the example of world-class footballer George Best. After a career full of success and triumph, he once said, completely serious and still deeply affected: "Is there anything I'd like to change in my life? I took a penalty against Chelsea in 1971 and Peter Bonetti saved it! I wish I'd aimed for the other corner."