The Standard

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The Standard September 28 to October 4 2014 25
From World Cup
to Namibian Cup:
Six marathon
penalty shootouts
The length of Tuesday’s penalty shootout
equals that of a 2011 Football League Trophy
first-round tie between Dagenham &
Redbridge and Leyton Orient
Rickie Lambert regularly scored penalties when he played for Southampton, as above, but missed one in the FA Cup’s longest-ever
shootout back in 2001
LiverpOOL came out on
top in a dramatic penalty
shootout to beat Middlesbrough
and progress to the fourth
round of Capital One Cup on
Tuesday night.
Their 14-13 victory after a 2-2
draw equalled an english record
in professional football, but it still
had some way to go to beat the
longest on record.
BBC Sport looks at six similarly
dramatic, and lengthy, penalty
shootouts.
“I didn’t think a save would be made”
The length of Tuesday’s penalty
shootout equals that of a 2011
Football League Trophy firstround
tie between Dagenham &
redbridge and Leyton Orient.
On that occasion, 27 penalties
were successfully converted before
Orient defender Ben Chorley
saw his second spot-kick saved by
Dagenham keeper James Shea to
hand the latter a 14-13 win.
“it didn’t look like a save was
going to be made. it’s our number
one penalty-taker that’s missed
the opportunity and probably the
one you would put your money
on,” said Orient manager russell
Slade.
Lambert’s penalty miss
Liverpool striker rickie Lambert
developed a reputation as a
penalty specialist at previous club
Southampton.
However, back in 2001, he
missed a spot-kick in what is still
the longest shootout in FA Cup
history.
Fortunately for Lambert, it was
not a decisive miss as the side he
played for at the time, Macclesfield,
went on to beat Forest Green
11-10.
His was the second penalty, but
with Forest Green’s Alex Meechan
also missing his side’s second
spot-kick, both teams went on to
successfully convert their penalties
until Lee Glover converted after
Kevin Langan missed to send
Macclesfield through.
England’s penalty woe (again)
england being the losing side
in a penalty shootout is nothing
new in football, but their semi-final
exit at the 2007 european Under-21
Championship was particularly
dramatic.
Stuart pearce’s side were playing
the Netherlands, and had led
through Leroy Lita’s strike, before
Maceo rigters scored an 89 th -
minute equaliser for the Dutch.
They ended extra-time with
only nine fit players after all three
substitutes were used — Nedum
Onuoha was forced off and Steven
Taylor played on, despite barely
being able to walk because of a
Anton Ferdinand missed England’s 13th penalty as they lost 13-12 to the Netherlands in the semi-final of the 2007 Euro U-21
Championship
knock.
Somehow, they managed to
keep going in a dramatic shootout
that saw each side successfully
convert 12 spot-kicks before Anton
Ferdinand struck the bar with
his second effort.
On and on and on...
in October 2013, players from
Brockenhurst and Andover Town
set a new record as they scored 29
consecutive penalties in a shootout.
The Hampshire Senior Cup
match finished 0-0 after extra
time, so went to spot-kicks.
And after 29 successful attempts
— a total confirmed by the Football
Association as an english record
— Andover’s Claudio Herbert
missed.
“i was excited but nervous,”
said Herbert. “i never thought i’d
have to take the 30 th penalty in a
shootout.
“i was just thinking ‘oh no, it’s
going to be on Tv — i’m going to
miss a penalty on Tv’.
“i’ve been involved in penalty
shoot-outs before, but nothing
like this.”
The longest of all
The record for the longest penalty
shootout came in 2005 when the
Namibian Cup had to be settled by
a record-breaking 48 spot-kicks.
in that game, KK palace held
their nerve to defeat the Civics 17-
16 following a 2-2 draw in normal
time.
“We didn’t think it was a record
but i am very proud,” Titus Kunamuene,
head of competitions at
the Namibian Football Association,
told CNN in 2010.
“But, really, at the end of the
game everybody was more relieved
than anything else.”
Going the distance at the World Cup
The first penalty shootout at a
World Cup is also the equal longest
in the tournament’s history.
it came in 1982, when the semifinal
shootout between West Germany
and France went six rounds
after the game had ended 3-3.
Maxime Bossis saw his effort denied
and Horst Hrubesch converted
his penalty to give West Germany
a 5-4 win in sudden death.
Sweden beat romania by the
same scoreline on penalties in the
quarter-final of the 1994 World Cup.
— BBCSport
Alastair Cook decision a long-term risk
THe selectors are taking a big
risk by asking Alastair Cook to
captain england in the Sri Lanka
one-day tour and next year’s
World Cup.
National selector James Whitaker
has given Cook his “100%”
backing and praised his “fortitude”
and “resilience” over a difficult
summer, but those factors
should have been irrelevant in
their decision.
The key considerations are
whether Cook is the right man
to captain the side in the World
Cup and, crucially, whether he
can withstand england’s crazy
schedule and still be at the top of
his game for the Ashes, which remains
the key contest for most
cricket fans.
My preference would have been
for Cook to be rested from the
World Cup. This level of sport is
extremely hard work and being
captain brings all sorts of other
pressures.
After the disappointing one-day
series against india, Cook will
be under scrutiny from the very
start of the Sri Lanka tour.
There will be questions asked
every match and if england are
badly beaten that pressure will
only intensify in the run-up to
the World Cup. it would make for
a very difficult build-up for Cook
and the team, with lots of questions
being asked.
With Test series against West
indies and New Zealand following
straight after the World Cup,
there is a real danger of Cook being
mentally and physically exhausted
by the time the Ashes
come round next July, and that
would be a huge shame for english
cricket and its supporters.
Cook, perhaps unsurprisingly,
sees things differently. i spoke to
him about 10 days ago and he absolutely
assured me that he would
be fine for the Ashes and beyond.
He said leading england in the
World Cup was the chance of a
lifetime and pointed out that you
are a long time retired. He knows
he faces a huge task but he sees it
as a massive challenge.
He understands what we are
saying but he doesn’t want to just
stay at home this winter. He wants
to go and win the World Cup for
england for the first time — and
Alastair Cook to captain England in the Sri Lanka one-day tour and next year’s World
Cup
you have to admire him for that.
The decision has been taken
now so all we can do as england
supporters is wish him well and
hope it all works out.
Beyond Cook, the biggest talking
points in the 16-man touring
party are the recalls for James
Taylor and ravi Bopara and the
omission of Gary Ballance.
The Taylor call makes perfect
sense. He brings a lot of runs with
him and a lot of experience from
county cricket. He can innovate
and has a good solid technique.
He is small and powerful which
is a hard combination to bowl at
because you have to change your
lengths.
Bopara will have been surprised
to have been left out in the
one-day internationals against india.
He has lots of international
experience and gives them a useful
bowling option on top of his
batting.
i’m a bit disappointed Ballance
is not in the squad. He was one
of the big success stories of england’s
summer and really has
something about him. He has a
good tight defence but he can open
up and go through the gears as he
showed when he reached his first
Test hundred with a six at Lord’s.
As Whitaker was keen to stress,
Ballance will still have a chance
to force his way into the World
Cup plans, and several members
of the england performance programme
will have similar aspirations.
Nonetheless, england will be
hoping that the Sri Lanka tour
allows them to fine-tune their
World Cup plans and get some
morale-boosting wins under
their belt.
The Sri Lankans will have similar
ideas and will be a fierce
proposition on their own soil.
For england to come home with a
series win would be a significant
achievement. — BBCSport