The psychological consultant, Dr. Howaida Al-Hajj, attributed the reasons for the loss of most players to “penalty kicks” in the decisive matches to 3 reasons:
¶ The player’s anxiety when he goes forward to perform the penalty shoot-out amidst his nerves, which makes him perform the strike however he wants and without focus, so the result is a missed goal.
¶ His poor experience in playing penalty kicks, and the lack of polishing this aspect well in his training, which makes him vulnerable to missing the penalty kick when he is asked to perform it.
¶ Excessive thinking a lot about the shot, as this can play a role in wasting the penalty kick, as the player may not choose the appropriate angle, and this matter makes him in a state of hesitation, and therefore kicks it as agreed.
She said that the penalty kick is a difficult task for football players, because it carries the hopes and fears of the entire team on the player's shoulders, which leads him to feel pressure and tense psychological state, as penalty kicks in decisive matches need players who have calm nerves and experience and feel and realize the importance of the strike in achieving Achievement for their team and drawing joy for their fans.
And she continued: These matters do not depend only on the players who take penalty kicks, but also include goalkeepers who have a great responsibility to focus on blocking these strikes and reading the ideas and movements of the players who will implement them, and despite the fact that the opportunity to score a penalty kick is much greater than stopping it by goalkeepers, That many stars fell victim to excessive psychological pressure while executing decisive kicks, so they missed them strangely, and missed their teams' opportunity to win.
She explained that some coaches are keen to qualify some players for penalty kicks well, especially the senior professionals, and despite that, many of them may waste it for reasons of excessive confidence, and the stadiums have witnessed a lot of wasting penalties from senior veteran players who put their teams in crucial matches in critical positions that cannot be envied. on her.
Dr. Hoveyda concludes:
To achieve victory in penalty kicks and not waste them from the players, all teams must have an arrangement for paying penalty kicks. Some coaches avoid players who evade penalty kicks, especially in important and crucial matches, due to fear and lack of self-confidence, or the inability to withstand pressures and reactions.
Top 10 penalty takers in the world:
Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo: He is one of the most penalty kick players. Out of 172 penalty kicks, the "Don" succeeded in scoring 143 goals, wasting 29 kicks, and his method of executing penalty kicks relies on hitting the ball with great force and accuracy, which makes it difficult for goalkeepers to block his kicks often.
The Swedish Zlatan Ibrahimovic: In most of the teams that the Swedish star played for, Zlatan was the one who specialized in penalty kicks and the first executor of them. This is due to his strength in shooting and his ability to focus in front of the goal and deposit the ball into the net.
Argentine Lionel Messi: The Argentine Lionel Messi is considered one of the best players in the world. He scored 103 goals out of 133 penalties, and failed to score 30 times.
French Karim Benzema: The French Real Madrid player, Karim Benzema, only hit 27 penalty kicks, after the departure of the Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo, who was the first to take them, and succeeded in scoring 24 times, which is a good number.
Belgian Eden Hazard: Although the last time he took a penalty kick dates back to 2020, the Belgian Real Madrid player Eden Hazard has a good record; As he managed to score 50 goals from 57 penalties that he implemented since the start of his football career.
Italian Jorginho: Chelsea is considered among the best specialists in penalty kicks until 2020; As he succeeded in scoring more than 35 goals from penalty kicks, but he missed an important penalty kick, with the Italian national team against Switzerland in Group Three of the World Cup qualifiers.
Brazilian Fabinho Tavares: Out of 24 penalty kicks taken by Liverpool player, Brazilian Fabinho Tavares, the Reds player failed to score only one kick, which makes him one of the best penalty takers in the world.
Brazilian Neymar Jr.: Paris Saint-Germain player, Brazilian Neymar Jr., carried out 77 penalties, of which he scored 62 goals, and missed 15 shots. The player suffered a lot from wasting penalties with Barcelona; As he wasted 6 penalty kicks, while he wasted with the Parisian only 3 penalty kicks.
The last penalty kick Neymar missed was in the match that Paris lost (1-3) to Nantes in the French League, and the media described the penalty kick that the Brazilian missed as "the worst penalty kick of the season so far."
Polish Robert Lewandowski: He is one of the best penalty kick scorers; He succeeded in scoring 65 out of 72 penalty kicks he took since the beginning of his career, thanks to his great skills and high accuracy in executing penalty kicks.
Portuguese Bruno Fernandez: Some observers describe the Portuguese Manchester United player, Bruno Fernandez, as a "machine for scoring penalty kicks." According to statistics, Bruno is the best penalty kick taker. He scored 42 of the 45 penalties he took in his career so far, and missed only 3 kicks, whether with Manchester United or his former club, Sporting Lisbon.
Mohammed Dawood (Jeddah) @mdawood77
