DOHA, Qatar — Not many players have ever experienced the feeling of taking a penalty in a World Cup shootout. After more than two hours of draining knockout football and with the hopes of a nation — and sometimes history — resting on your shoulders, it can come down to one kick from 12 yards. It’s not for the faint of heart.
“I used to take penalties in games, but in a World Cup shootout, with that pressure? It’s different,” former Uruguay striker Diego Forlan told ESPN.
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Croatia, Japan, Morocco and Spain have already felt the unique stress of a World Cup shootout in Qatar, and before the tournament ends there are likely to be a few more.
Ahead of every match since the start of the round of 16, each manager has been asked about the looming prospect of penalties. They hang over every game, with the thought becoming increasingly prominent while the score remains level and time whittles ticks down.
“When I made my walk, it felt very quick, but it must have been quite slow because I was told afterwards that when I stepped up, my mum had run out into the garden, and by the time my brother had gone out to drag her back, I still hadn’t taken it,” Townsend added. “So either I was quite slow, or my mum is quicker than I am!
“It’s not a comfortable walk, and you have time to think about an awful lot of things. By the time you get to the edge of the 18-yard box, I think you have to know what you’re going to do with it.
“[Republic of Ireland manager] Jack Charlton told me to get my head down and thump it, but I liked to place them. He asked me what I was going to do and I said ‘Place it,’ and he said ‘No, you’ve got to thump it.’ Thankfully I stuck to my guns and scored.”
Former Liverpool midfielder Ray Houghton was also part of Republic of Ireland’s shootout against Romania, volunteering to take the penalty before Townsend. “I’d never taken a penalty in my life,” he told ESPN. “We were in the huddle and we couldn’t even find three takers, we only had two.
“I had done reasonably well in the game but I felt confident enough to take one because no one else was about to. I think if I’d felt I’d had a bad game, I would have been less likely to put my hand up because you’ve got to feel confident.
