5 superstars who struggle at scoring penalties
Scoring a penalty might look like an easy thing to do for spectators. However, the truth is far from it. Footballers go up against world-class goalkeepers who are difficult to outfox and have the ability to cover nearly half of the goalmouth with a dive.
A moment's hesitation or indecisiveness can prove to be detrimental. The pressure is also incredible as the penalty taker is expected to score. If he misses, he will be slagged off and slated whereas the goalkeeper doesn't have to face such tribulations for failing to save a penalty.
That's why football players hate penalty shootouts. It's a high-pressure scenario where chance plays a huge role and things can go south in the blink of an eye. Even then, fans would expect the most technically astute players to find the back of the net from 12 yards out. But that would, in reality, be a little presumptuous of them.
On that note, let's take a look at five superstars who struggle at scoring penalties.
#5 Lionel Messi (Argentina/Paris Saint-Germain)
Lionel Messi has scored so many goals from the spot that it's easy to be fooled into thinking that he is one of the best at it. But that's not the truth. Even Messi, one of the greatest footballers of all time, has struggled to put the ball in the back of the net from 12 yards out.
He scored a brace that included a brilliant panenka from the spot for PSG in a thrilling 3-2 win over RB Leipzig in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night. But Messi has not always looked that comfortable taking penalties.
Messi has scored 102 penalties in his career so far. However, he has also missed a whopping 29 of them. That's a little less than a fourth of all the 131 penalties he has taken in his illustrious career. It would have been fair to expect arguably the greatest footballer of all time to have a better conversion rate from the spot.
Second time that Messi has recently given away a hattrick-sealing penalty. The first was to give Griezmann some confidence in April. Tonight he wanted to let Mbappé score another. That attitude to serve the whole team, but still excel so much as an individual, is why he’s unique.
#4 Kylian Mbappe (France/Paris Saint-Germain)
The crowned prince of football, Kylian Mbappe, hasn't enjoyed great success from the spot either. The Frenchman most recently skied a penalty in PSG's 3-2 win over RB Leipzig in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday.
The miss would have stung as Lionel Messi chose to forgo the opportunity to score a hat-trick by handing the ball over to Mbappe after PSG were awarded a secon penalty. The 22-year-old had enjoyed a great outing up until that point but he awkwardly sent the ball flying over the crossbar.
Mbappe missed from the spot for France against Switzerland in the penalty shootout in the Round of 16 at Euro 2020. His spot kick was saved by Switzerland goalkeeper Yan Sommer and it caused France to crash out of the continental competition.
Apart from penalty shootouts, Mbappe has taken a total of 19 penalties and missed four of them.
Kylian Mbappe searching for where that penalty landed 🚀
Lionel Messi won't be so kind next time 😅 https://t.co/DGNGiUiusA