Penalty Shootout Games – The Most Memorable
Many people refer to the penalty shootout in football as a lottery – which is kind of correct, the only difference is that there is a lot more skill than luck involved in taking penalties. Penalty shootouts were introduced as a way of deciding a result in those stalemate matches in cup games where a results was needed on the actual day to avoid a fixture backlog. Over the years there have been many memorable penalty shootouts which unfortunately have more often than not involved England with the result 99% of the time resulting in an England loss – in fact I can only remember England actually winning one penalty shootout in my lifetime and that was against Spain in the 1996 European championships. Unfortunately they then went on to lose to Germany in the semi-finals……..that’s right you guessed it…..on penalties!
1986 World Cup Quarer Finals – France vs Brazil
One of my most memorable penalty shootouts was as a child watching the 1986 world cup quarter finals with my friends and family. It was the France versus Brazil game in which the game in 1-1 after extra time and had to go to penalties. Now I realise the game was a draw and you would probably think it a dull affair but it was a game packed full of excitement and drama right up until the end including the penalty shootout. I remember there being missed from the Brazilians Socrates and Cesar and the French captain and legendary player Michel Platini. The shootout which resulted in a famous French win actually came from the player Amoros whose penalty hit the post, then the goalkeepers back and ended up in the back of the net.
1994 World Cup Final – Brazil vs Italy
Another memorable shootout was the world cup final of 1994 in USA which really was a dull, drab games. Brazil went onto win and lift the world cup when the iconic Italian Roberto Baggio sent his penalty soaring past the Brazillian goal and up into the stands. If you happened to miss it, here it is in all it’s glory:
1982 World Cup Final – West Germany vs France
For me though, and probably what I would pen as the most exciting game I’ve ever watched – it was the world cup semi finals of 1982 between the then West Germans and France in which the game ended in a pulsating three all draw after extra time and the Germans then went onto win 5-4 on penalties. The game itself as riveting as France were leading three goals to one after originally being a goal down but the Germans with their never say die attitude clawed it back to three all and then went onto win the penalty shootout as so often is the case.
