Penalty Kicks Once More

Holland has just lost their semi-final match against Argentina on penalty kicks. Other than a kick by Arjen Robben that actually went into the (inside) side netting, none of the shots were very good. But what is mind-numbingly stupid about Holland’s plan was that they started off with a defender. Excuse me, but the people who are charged with scoring goals, and thus the ones who should be experts on taking penalty kicks, are the forwards. Why start with a defender? Yes, defenders occasionally score goals, and sometimes even goalies score goals. But it is the forwards whose job it is to score goals, and they are the ones who should be absolute masters at taking penalty kicks, so there is no reason to start with a defender. Did the Dutch think they would save their best players for last? That is stupid because there may not be any “last” shots for them to take. (Back in 1938, Brazil played a semi-final match leaving out their best player, Tim, who was being saved for the final. But they didn’t get to the final.) All of this is quite elementary, yet it seems to go against the grain of everyone’s thinking. Back in 1998 (if I remember correctly) England used as one of their kickers someone who claimed not to have taken a penalty kick since he was a kid. His shot was saved. And the Dutch defender, how did he fare? His shot was saved, too, and Holland never really caught up.