I enjoy penalties!

Last night Sevilla and Benfica played the Europa League Final. As the match advanced and as I didn’t really mind who won the match, I thought it would be a good entertainment watch a penalty shot. I know a lot of people consider that is unfair and that it is not the best solution to decide the winner, but I think that it is really interesting. I understand that if you are a supporter of one of the teams that is playing, it is a very tough moment and that it is difficult not to get nervous.

 

I know this sentence will sound funny from a person who stands for a team RCD Espanyol that has lost the two UEFA finals. In 1988, against Bayer Leverkusen and in 2007, precisely, against Sevilla. They were two of our great opportunities and after being one of the best teams of the competition, we lost.

In 1988 I was only 7 years and I don’t remember much but I have seen the penalty kicks a lot of times on TV. In 2007, I was at Hampden Park watching that match. We drew with 10 players in the extra time and when it look that we were going to win, three of our players missed their penalties.

I know it is a very though moment and that you have a lot of pressure. But doctors also have pressure when they have to operate and they can’t do mistakes in those moments. Today, everybody is saying that Beto was great. The goalkeeper did his job, but I think that Cardozo and Rodrigo didn’t do their best. As they were running to the ball you could see that they didn’t have any confidence and that they were scared. Of course, the two of them missed their penalties. 

I do feel sorry for them, because I am sure they will never forget. They will always be remembered as the players who missed the penalties. It is not fair, but this is how football works. But I feel really sorry for the supporters, who travelled from Lisboan and have turned sad because of their teams defeat.

Personally, I enjoyed a lot. I liked how some players took their penalties. I like to see the faces, the way the goalkeeper looks the shooters, how this one decides to take the penalty. It is a moment where it is very important to be confidence, to believe in one.  As my father says, the ‘sillonball’ is very easy and that you have to be down there, in front of the goalkeeper, with millions of people watching and hoping that you score the goal. You miss, you fail. You score, you win.