"Who's the best penalty kick taker in the world right now?"
(Don't say Arjen Robben lol.....)
I'd say it's either Balotelli, Mario Gomez, or Ibrahimovic. All of them seem to rarely if ever miss, put the ball where the keeper can't get it even if he guesses correctly, and are just generally cold-blooded even in the most pressurized situations.
Anyone who has stats on this, that would be interesting, too.
PS. It's obviously not Messi or CR -- although, despite being a Barca fan, I'll admit that CR is marginally better at this than Messi is.
10. "i would say Rooney and CR7 are the two best right now." In response to Reply # 0
i'm sure it's happened, but i've watched most of their games over the last few years and i can't REMEMBER them straight missing any. i know Rooney had one or two saved, but still that's pretty impressive considering how many he takes.
13. "PKs are 80% confidence" In response to Reply # 11
Balotelli has it.
Those of us who have watched enough shootouts can sense when a player will miss it. Cashley always looked like he was going to miss. It was the quintessential fearful penalty. I don't blame him, after Young's miss. It's human nature. But if you go to the spot even half-thinking you're going to miss...chances are, you will miss.
For Super Mario, I don't think he sees any other outcome other than him scoring. And that's why he doesn't miss.
16. "loits of fuckups happen because of over confidence, though" In response to Reply # 13
Platini, Maradona, Baggio missed crucial PKs and it was not because they came up there thinking they would miss it Cantona shanking the panenka (link above) is another example of that I could see some shit like that happening to Balotelli
thing is, it's not as easy as it looks to shoot a good PK. you really have to focus on your form, kinda like serving in tennis or swinging at golf.
14. "Guys, CR7 has missed two PKs in CL semis and one in a CL final!!" In response to Reply # 0
Based on his excellent technique and excellent overall conversion record, he's a great penalty taker, but he's missed too many important penalties to be in that absolute elite group at the top. Especially when one of the main criteria for being the best is being immune to pressure -- do you really think it's a coincidence that Ronaldo has missed three of the most important penalties of his career when he rarely ever misses otherwise?? He's great but let's be reality here.
Rick Fox Jr Member since Feb 28th 2003 11545 posts
Tue Jun-26-12 01:35 AM
18. "He also eliminated England in a World Cup" In response to Reply # 14
He's one of the best, dude. The fact you lumped him with Messi, who is not in the same class when it comes to a PK, tells me you make decisions based off emotion.
Pirlo is the best deadball taker in the world - free kicks, penalties, anytime his foot kicks the ball its golden. One of the best performances in a decade on Sunday against England.
Check this out, it takes a lot of confidence to do this.
