Why I Love Penalty Shootouts

There is nothing more dramatic in football than a penalty shootout.

Drama can be defined as a situation that is highly emotional, tragic or turbulent, and there is nothing people find more entertaining. There is an odd attention grabbing fascination to it. The world of sport has its fair share of these moments, but certainly one of the most dramatic is a penalty shootout.

There are few things more exciting, yet nerve shredding than a shootout. Two teams, scores unable to be separated after 120 mins of play, battle it out from 12 yards until a victor has been crowned. The crowd becomes eerily silent as the players make their way to the spot. A low level hum reverberates as the taker is preparing, the opposition fans trying to disrupt his calmness. An eruption of cheers upon success or an audible groan upon failure. An outpouring of emotion at the climax. Tears of joy for the winners and those of desolation for the defeated. Truly drama at its best.

The mental battle involved in taking a penalty has to be the most interesting, and therefore the most enthralling, aspect of a shootout. Sport is at its best when an athlete is in conflict with themselves. Seeing a player overcome their mental demons and create a moment of history is the pinnacle of drama and excitement.

So many factors are out of their control; the direction the goalkeeper dives, the score of the shootout, potentially the order of takers could be decided by others. However, in the grand scheme of things these factors disappear, only scoring matters. But in a highly pressurised situation, carrying out such a simple task becomes increasingly difficult. Doubt begins to appear and decisions ‘which way do I shoot?’ ‘Do I go for power or placement?’ get harder to make. Thoughts ‘What if I miss?’ start to cloud the mind, placing additional pressure upon the taker. But, when a player overcomes both pressure and their mind, success from the spot comes naturally.

A penalty shootout is an emotional rollercoaster, especially for the fans, but they have the potential to provide people with lasting memories of their club’s or even country’s greatest moments. As a Chelsea fan, one night in particular comes to mind as an example of this: the 2012 Champions League final, Chelsea vs Bayern Munich. There was so much drama in that game before getting to penalties. Thomas Muller’s late goal buried me under a mountain of dread and disappointment. Then Drogba’s injury time header sent the game to extra time, igniting a sense of hope within me, a feeling of ‘we can win this’.

Fast forward to the shootout and Chelsea miss their first penalty. That felt like game over. Memories of the 2008 final came flooding back, along with the pain and bitterness of losing another final on penalties. One after another, penalties were taken and scored. Hope was all I could feel. Then the moment I was waiting for came, Bayern missed and I let out a cry of ‘get in’. Chelsea replied by scoring; everything hinged on the next penalty. Up steps the reliable Bastian Schweinsteiger, placing the ball on the spot with confidence. He took the shot and, with the aid of the faintest of touches from Cech’s fingertip, he hits the post; Drogba steps up next and wins the game for Chelsea, their first every Champions League title. The overwhelming sense of elation I felt was uncontainable. I finally noticed how much I had been sweating, but I didn’t care. Nothing else mattered.

On the flip side, losing via a penalty shootout hurts a great deal. I should know, I’m

English after all. The number of times England has been knocked out of major international tournaments because of terrible penalty displays is numerous. In fact England have only won two of their last nine shootouts, one in 2018 against Colombia and one against Spain all the way back in Euro ’96. I’m sure the nation lets out a collective groan every time England has to compete at penalties, as though all of our previous failures have confined our fate from the spot before the shoot-out even happens.

These shared emotions, whether of jubilation or disappointment, bring people together and creates community and culture. This is what sports, as well as drama, is all about. The fact that such a small aspect of a game can create such strong connections between people is definitely the main reason why I love penalty shootouts.

These are just some of my thoughts surrounding the topic of penalties and I know many others enjoy a shootout. I also know that others absolutely despise them and cite a wide range of reasons as to why they feel this way. Which side of the fence do you fall on? Are you a shootout lover or hater?