The mind games while converting a penalty kick could be an engrossing topic in sports psychology, given the number of famous footballers who missed from just 11 metres in World Cups, with only the goalkeeper to beat. This ‘infamous’ list includes the likes of Diego Maradona (1990), Michel Platini and Zico (both 1986), and Roberto Baggio (1994).
In Argentina’s World Cup 2018 opener on Saturday against Iceland, Lionel Messi joined this list when he missed a sitter from the penalty spot. He could only walk back, dazed, as the footballing world furiously debated reasons for the miss, including the pressure which makes these legends freeze in front of the goal.
Former India football captain Brahmanand Sankwalkar, who went on to be the national goalkeeping coach, feels the ability to overcome the pressure of responsibility and expectations is critical. “Focussing on the ball and self are important. Players taking the kick should switch off the pressure of their country’s expectations. The pressure of captaincy should not be on the mind; it messes up everything.” He cites the examples of former greats Michel Platini of France and Diego Maradona, and now Messi, who have been weighed down by captaincy, while Brazil’s Zico and Italy’s Roberto Baggio battled the pressure of their reputations.
Not so easy
There is clearly something more to kicking a stationary ball into the net beyond the goalkeeper’s reach than what it seems on TV. Messi’s goals for Argentina in normal play and from setpieces like free kicks have been scored from many angles, at times his sense of direction so sharp he fires the ball in without looking at the target.
So have Maradona, Platini, Zico and Baggio in World Cup games. The distance between goalposts (2.44m high amd 7.32m wide as per FIFA regulations) is so vast that the kicker has the goalkeeper at his mercy. As Iceland custodian Hannes Halldorrson swatted away a left-footed penalty kick from Messi at Moscow’s Spartak stadium, as Maradona looked on from the stands. During a 1990 World Cup match at Florence’s Comunale stadium, Yugoslav goalkeeper Tomislav Ivkovic dived to his right and collected a weak placement by the left-footed Argentina genius.
Brahmanand, who spoke to The Hindu from Goa, said, “Big players score in important matches because they are composed. At that moment, during a penalty kick, they may feel short of courage or feel overconfident. A goalkeeper has nothing to lose.” Referring to the Messi miss, he added, “The goalkeeper’s courage and focus came into play. Hannes (Halldorrson) had only one thought in his mind: to save the penalty and deny the world’s greatest player his glory. It gave him the courage to face the situation.”
Mind game
For kickers with reputations, converting from the penalty spot is a mind game while custodians like Iceland’s hero are better placed due to high motivation. “I think at that moment, most great players require inner strength, and the rest is luck. Goalkeepers who have saved kicks by such players have risen to the occasion, aware that one effort can make them famous. The kicker may be feeling he is already a champion,” says Brahmanand.
Iceland drew 1-1 with Argentina and celebrated as though it were a win. Tapping into decades of goalkeeping experience, including the 1986 Seoul Asian Games, Brahmanand says, “Messi waited for the goalkeeper to be still and placed the ball so surely, as if expecting him to go the wrong way. He was confident about the goalkeeper’s shift to the other side, and when it did not happen, he had no option.”
The 2018 World Cup in Russia is the Argentina spearhead’s fourth World Cup appearance. He had rescued the nation with a hat-trick against Ecuador to turn a possible defeat in a World Cup qualifier into a stunning victory. Four years ago, at the 2014 World Cup final against Germany in Brazil, Messi finished on the losing side. Argentina, chasing its first World Cup title after the Maradona-inspired win in 1986, could do with some Messi magic.
