The Pressure Of A Penalty

Roberto Baggio steps up to the edge of the penalty box. He is the best player in the world at the time and is about to take the penalty that could win the 1994 FIFA World Cup for Italy. He runs up, he strikes the ball but it's over the bar.

This is just one example of how pressure can effect penalty takers in a game of football. Recent research has shown that the crowd, importance and skill can all be important contributors to how a players convert a penalty.

The Crowd
The crowd can have a major effect on penalty takers. If they are playing an away game the crowd will no doubt boo them to try and stop the penalty taker from thinking clearly. If playing at home the player will of course be much more at home but there is still the pressure there to convert it for the fans.

The Importance
This is most likely what put of Roberto Baggio. It was the penalty to keep Italy in the FIFA World Cup there is nothing in football more important than that. If it is a domestic league penalty it's not that important but if it's in a big professional league like the Champions League that is viewed by audiences worldwide it means the difference between glory and disgrace.

Skill
If you can't even take a penalty why do you even have to worry about pressure if you know your going to miss anyway. So learn how to take a penalty. Also players need to learn to control there heart rate and ignore the boos and chants echoing around the stadium. If you can do these things you could take a penalty at the Nuecamp any day.