In many (including serious) football directories, it is claimed that a penalty was invented by a certain Irishman, John Penalty. It’s hard to say where the roots of this legend come from, but such a person simply didn’t exist. William McCrum, an Irish entrepreneur, and athlete, offered to punch a penalty kick for breaking the rules in his own penalty area. And the word “penalty” means “punishment.”
In 1969, meticulous fans of Pele calculated that he scored more than 990 goals during his career. The whole of Brazil was looking forward to the jubilee ball. It happened on November 19, 1969. On this day, Pele scored the ball from the penalty spot into the goal to the gate of “Vasco da Gama.” In August 1971, the football player from the team “Builder” (Poltava) Alexander Molodetsky scored a penalty kick with his head.
In one of the interviews, presented at Berita Sepak bola Terkini the player recalled that he had fled, fell on the lawn, and struck his head on the ball, which flew into the right corner from the goalkeeper. On March 27, 2011, the goalkeeper of the Brazilian club “Sao Paulo” Seny Rogerio set an incredible record: he scored the 100th goal in his career. The goalkeeper not only reliably defended his goal but also successfully attacked strangers, punching free kicks and penalties.
Of the jubilee hundred, Rogerio scored 56 goals from the penalty area, 44 from the penalty spot, and only one from the game. Some football fans claim that the legendary Lev Yashin repelled about 150 penalties during his career. However, official statistics give different numbers: Yashin was hit penalties 49 times and fought back 15. Lev Ivanovich himself claimed that it was impossible to take a penalty. If the goalkeeper managed to beat off the blow, then the hitter had mistaken.
The player of the Baku team “Neftchi” Igor Ponomaryov was called the best penalty kick player of the Soviet Union. In the national championships, he scored 24 penalties in a row. On August 16, 1998, the players of the club “Uralan” from Elista gained a sensational victory over Moscow “Spartak” with a score of 1:0. The only goal was scored by Alexander Ignatiev, and the goalkeeper of “Uralan” Andrei Samorukov reflected a penalty in the last minute of the match.
After this game, both players were awarded the title “Hero of Kalmykia.” But the Argentinean Martin Palermo entered the history of football as a penalty shooter loser. In 1999, he missed score three penalties in one game. This embarrassment happened at America’s Cup match. Palermo hit the penalty spot three times to the gates of the Colombian national team: the first hit fell on the cross, the second- above the gate, and the third one was parried by the goalkeeper.
In 1968, during the semifinal match of the European Cup between the USSR and Italy national teams, the winner couldn’t be determined, and the game ended with a score of 0:0. According to the rules of those years, the referee threw a coin, which decided that the Italians would play in the final. Shortly after this ridiculous incident, the German football referee Karl Wald suggested punching the penalty shootouts in such cases.
The passion for the game starts from childhood and accompanies a person throughout his/her life. The desire to win and get acute experiences fills the time frames, help to survive ups and downs, and experience new sensations. But not only passion determines the love for the game.
Gradually, the idea became widespread and is still applied. Impartial statistics assure that the chances to score a ball from the penalty spot are very high. In about three cases out of four, the ball ends up in the net.
Football declarations of love look very touching. For example, Raul Gonzalez has kissed his ring finger (where he wears a wedding ring, which must be taken off according to the rules of the game) more than once after scoring a goal, which means dedicating a goal to his wife.
And some football players show joy with the dancing (team celebrations of the South African national team or pair dance of Obafemi Martins and Abdoulaye Faye from Newcastle) or acrobatic (Nigerian defender Celestine Babayaro and Nigerian striker Julius Aghahowa) elements. However, Icelandic players from “Stjarnan” amaze their fans and entertain the viewers on YouTube most often. Even during training, they find time for staging such performances (in particular, “Fishing,” “Toilet,” “Delivery,” “Live bike,” etc.)