The Psychology of Penalty Kicks

You could write a lot, and I’m sure a lot will be written, about the Uruguay-Ghana quarterfinal match this afternoon.  I will remember Suarez’s not one, but two stops at the goal line in the waning seconds of extra time, the second being a handball, and Gyan’s subsequent miss of the penalty kick.  Interestingly, what struck me as intriguing at the time and stuck wandering around in my mind was the last penalty kick of the shootout.  Over time it will probably lost amid the celebration of Uruguay, the disappointment of Ghana, and the focus of the ire of ethics teachers on Luis Suarez.  However, my first reaction upon seeing Sebastian Abreu’s penalty kick that clinched Uruguay’s quarterfinal win against Ghana was that it was one of the gutsiest penalty kick I’ve seen. 

But as I think about it more, I’m not so sure.  Instead of admiring his stalwart confidence, I instead admire his logical thought process of the situation.  Let me try to explain.

Now, granted, I don’t watch nearly as much soccer as I do baseball, but watch below, and maybe I can explain what I was thinking.

Notice how he chips the ball as if he were passing it to a 4 year old who is standing at the back of the net.  If the keeper doesn’t move it would be the easiest of saves, but, as keeper’s are apt to do in a penalty kick situation, he dives to one side guessing that Abreu will attempt to smash a shot into the corner of the net and the ball floats gently over the keeper and lands in the back of the net.  Gutsy, I thought.

The more I think about it, however, I believe what is to be admired is not his nerves, but perhaps instead his thought process that led him to take the PK the way he did.  At the time of Abreu’s PK, the last of the set of 5, Uruguay had a 3-2 lead in Penalty kicks.  If he misses, Ghana still has to make their next penalty just to tie the shootout and send it to another round of 5.  He’s in a situation where he has nothing to lose if his shot is blocked, and can clinch it if he makes it. 

In addition he has just seen his teammate Pereira sky a PK into the 25th row.  Perhaps I am giving him more mental credit than he deserves, but by forcing the keeper to make the stop you’re allowing for a larger margin of error into the equation.

And lastly, he’s apparently been practicing this.