Penalty Kicks in Spain? ¡Sin Problemas!

By: Ryan | March 30th, 2008

As we have all witnessed, Spaniards have an uncanny ability to toss bottles at opposing coaches from great distance and with great accuracy. (Just ask Juande Ramos or now Armando from Athletic Bilbao)

But apparently their accuracy does actually extend to the pitch, and more specifically to the penalty spot.

Today AS (a Spanish Daily) published an article documenting the Spanish exploits from the spot. The overwhelming consensus is that La Liga teams have been practicing as this year has seen a 16% drop in missed penalties from last season. I’m not sure how other leagues compare but thanks to the article, we can do some real data analysis. Fun Right?

Well, if we actually take a look at the numbers, things get a little more interesting. But it also brings up a few questions in my mind.

In 29 Matchdays, we have the following.

83 penalties attempted

69 penalties converted
14 penalties missed
7 were sent into low earth orbit
4 were converted after being saved initially by the keeper
3 were actually saved (Leo Franco, Palop and Ricardo are the only three)

That seems easy. But it gets a bit more interesting if you look closely. Only 3 saved penalties in 76 opportunities since the 7 that didn’t hit the net don’t count. So that’s a 3% success record for La Liga keepers with an actual shot between the three posts.

So what does that mean? Either the keepers in Spain are terrible guessers, or that the takers are really sharp. I’d guess the latter, as penalties are one of the hardest things for a keeper to actually save.

When I was a kid, it was always ‘Run up to the ball and just put it in.’ We were never taught to do the run up, stop, run again, stop again, etc. that everyone does now. I mean, it’s infinitely more effective than just running up and hitting the daylights out of the ball.

But this also goes to show you that penalty takers can really make a difference. I don’t know how other leagues stack up, but this seems like a crazy number of successful penalties this season.

So for The Offsiders that still dabble in the beautiful game, what are your secrets for converting from the spot? Do you bless yourself 16 times and raise your ancestors from the dead a la Landon Donovan. Do you run up and simply try to put it through the back of the net. Do you go right? Go Left?

I’m a Right-Footed shot naturally, but sometimes I switch it up and go Lefty and then bend it inside the left hand post. It’s usually pretty successful for me.

Except for the time I rang it off the upper 90 to lose in the final of our Amateur Cup tournament. *Le Sigh*