It’s not something you see often, in fact it is a hugely rare occurrence, having your goalkeeper as your penalty taker.
You do see it in a penalty shootout a bit more though, and this probably makes sense. Who better to take a penalty against a goalkeeper, than another goalkeeper? They know exactly what the one between the sticks is thinking and that can be used to their advantage.
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Former Chelsea goalkeeper and club legend Petr Cech reveals he used to be the main penalty taker for the Czech Republic under-16 team when he was in goal!
The Blues technical director has been talking about penalty shootouts in his column for the Chelsea website this week off the back of Chelsea winning yet another penalty shootout against Southampton in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.
Kepa Arrizabalaga and Reece James were the heroes that night, but Cech too had been the hero for his national side, until they changes coaches…
He said:
“I used to take penalties when I played for my Under-16 team in Czech Republic. Then we changed the coach and he was not that keen to send the goalkeeper up. He was worried I would miss and then the opposition team would break!
“When I was 16, I had an open high strategy aiming for the top left. That was the safe one for me, I felt comfortable, not completely side-footing it.
“I never took a penalty in a shoot-out in my professional career, though. In one game for Rennes I was the sixth taker, but it never came to that because I saved the fifth one. I was thinking I had to save it otherwise I would have needed to take a penalty! I preferred just trying to save them. It’s exciting, it gives you an opportunity, and it’s a test of your mental and physical skills.”
