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Penalty practice key to Argentina's shootout win
Posted: Wednesday July 01, 1998 01:42 PM
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Did it matter? Argentina practices penalty kicks, while England does not (AP) |
LYON (Reuters) -- Argentina's
greater ability to kick a soccer ball properly may have been what finally
separated it from England in
their remarkable World Cup second round clash in St. Etienne.
The manner in which the Argentines, regardless of playing positions, took
penalties in the shootout following the 2-2 draw after overtime on Tuesday
night contrasted dramatically with the English.
David Batty, whose weak kick was easily saved by Carlos Roa and sealed
Argentina's 4-3 shootout victory, had never before taken a penalty in top
level competition.
Paul Ince, who also had his kick saved, had refused to take a penalty when
England reached a shootout against Germany and
lost it in its 1996 European championship semifinal at Wembley.
Argentina has practiced penalties almost every day during the World Cup and
its players oozed with confidence.
But England coach Glenn Hoddle still seemed to have missed the point when
he suggested on Wednesday that psychology rather than constant practice was
the key element in a successful shootout record.
"It is one thing to practice, but there is nothing like going out there to
take one in those circumstances," he said.
"When you get positive vibes from players, you go with them. David Batty
and Paul Ince both said they wanted to take them. Some others wanted to be
out of the five. It's a psychology thing," he added.
England has been knocked out of the finals of major competitions on
penalties three times in the 1990s, having bowed out of the World Cup in
the same way against Germany in the semifinals eight years ago.
In a friendly match in Morocco just
one month ago, Belgium
defeated England on penalties. Hoddle said afterwards the team needed to
work on its penalty taking.
Argentina, by contrast, won two shootouts on their path to the 1990 final
and two more on their way to retaining the Copa America in Ecuador in 1993.
It is not enough to rely on the penalty-saving ability of the goalkeeper
and England paid the price despite David Seaman's fine save against Parma
striker Hernan Crespo.
Hoddle was left with few forwards for the shootout after
defensively-oriented substitutions during a match in which his side was
down to 10 men after the dismissal of David Beckham with 43 minutes to go.
Beckham is a top spot kicker, but the problem goes deeper.
Teams need to be ready for a shootout in any competition in which the rules
demand that a match will ultimately be decided on penalties.
Argentina's 1990 coach Carlos Bilardo said he would not include in his
squad any player who refused to take a penalty.
He argued that the mere fact of a player not being afraid to take a penalty
under the glare and pressure of a huge crowd in a major competition was
indicative of his character.
The Argentines practice penalties almost daily, making it fun by holding a
competition among the whole squad and with coach Daniel Passarella,
Argentina's most successful penalty taker, also taking part.
Passarella's extra-time substitution of captain Diego Simeone by Sergio
Berti, who put away Argentina's first penalty, was probably made with the
shootout in mind.
Victory for England, which created more clear chances over the 120 minutes
of play, may have slipped from its grasp midway through the first half when
Paul Scholes, after a fine run on the left, was not good enough with his
final shot when he could have put it 3-1 up.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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