Loading...There’s no doubt that a penalty (in soccer), in a penalty shootout or not, is one of the most intense moments in sports. It may seem easy; after all, you get a free shot on goal from less than 10 yards out. Any self-respecting soccer player can make that, right? Not quite. There’s a reason that Lionel Messi, arguably the best player in the world, missed his penalty in the final of the Copa America recently. He can score from 20, 30, even 40 yards out, but when it comes to a 1 on 1 in front of tens of thousands of screaming fans, sometimes even the best sometimes lose their cool and hit a bad penalty.
In the most recent episode in F2Freestylers’ series on the statistics and science behind soccer, you’ll learn all about penalties – everything from how accurately one can predict penalties, interesting statistics on penalties, and even some trick penalties by the F2 at the end of the video. While penalties are some of the most high-pressure part of soccer and sports in general, it’s surprising how easy they are to game, and despite that, how much skill they actually take to do well.