Ronaldo

He's taken a bit of stick for not taking a penalty but who's fault was it?

From my own experience, the manager picks the line up. If he did, then he made a massive error. Another theory is that Ronaldo may have been first up but wanted to go last, to take the glory.

Either way, Portugal will rue the day that Ronaldo didn't take a kick.

I think they wanted it to be the big moment of him taking the final penalty kick. To be fair, he did miss a kick in the Champions League semi-final so he's not exactly a guaranteed scorer.

As well as the fact that even if Ronaldo had gone earlier, it's probable that Bruno Alves would have still missed and Portugal gone out.

Still, a poor decision by whoever came up with it. Of course he may have missed but he would have stood a better chance than most.

Thought Ronaldo was pretty poor last night. Blazing over the bar, misplaced passes. If Wayne Rooney had played like that he'd have been slaughtered

Drogba took the last penalty in the Champions League final and people didn't criticise that decision.

Crimey wrote:Drogba took the last penalty in the Champions League final and people didn't criticise that decision.

It can work but it's a very big risk. Plus, Ronaldo is there penalty taker. Trying to justify this decision is baffling tbh. This reminds me of 1998 when batty and Ince took a pen but Sheringham didn't. People said "but he may have missed as well" Yes he could have but you have to think who's more likely to score and in this case, the coach must realise that Ronaldo is more likely than the others as he does take the pens.

What a mountain out of a molehill....

It was their strategy. If Spain hadnt won the toss and chose to take first, then Ronaldo's penalty would have been to keep the shootout going.

As Crimey says, Drogba went last in the champs league final and no one said anything at all.

sand

But to me it was a massive risk and a stupid one. Anyhoo, like you say a mountain out of a molehill.

Crimey wrote:Drogba took the last penalty in the Champions League final and people didn't criticise that decision.

Because Chelsea had other good penalty takers in their side too. Portugal dont.

On the other hand you could say Spain took a risk in allowing Pique and Ramos to take penalties ahead of Fabregas, Navas and Pedro who would surely be more fancied? If either of them missed i'm sure Spain would be criticised for their order.

It worked for Portugal in the 2006 World Cup when Ronaldo scored the fifth and winning spot kick against England.

That was against England though. And we all know how good we are penalties.

I'm not denying it can work but it's not worth the risk. Would you have waited till the end?

I wouldn't have.

Stella wrote:I'm not denying it can work but it's not worth the risk. Would you have waited till the end?

I wouldn't have.

Agreed!

Crimey wrote:Drogba took the last penalty in the Champions League final and people didn't criticise that decision.

He doesn't take thier penalties noramlly though does he? I thought Lampard did? He would have been behind Mata and maybe Luiz too I would have thought.

Ronaldo has missed pens in CL final and semi final, who says he was taking one at all?

Graeme Swann's Cat wrote:Ronaldo has missed pens in CL final and semi final, who says he was taking one at all?

He was fifth down, apparently.

Good point about those misses. maybe he was reluctant?

What difference would it have made? If Ronaldo had taken the 4th penalty and scored (not guarenteed) then it would only have tied the game, then there would have been even more pressure on Alves and he would have been even more likely to miss, meaning Spain still win.

Talk about a mountain out of a molehill, just because the press wanted to see Ronaldo take a pen...

Smirnoffpriest wrote:What difference would it have made? If Ronaldo had taken the 4th penalty and scored (not guarenteed) then it would only have tied the game, then there would have been even more pressure on Alves and he would have been even more likely to miss, meaning Spain still win.

Talk about a mountain out of a molehill, just because the press wanted to see Ronaldo take a pen...

Just asking

wtf have the press got to do with either? Sat there watching it, I was a tad surprised like most that he wasn't in the top three.

Crimey wrote:I think they wanted it to be the big moment of him taking the final penalty kick. To be fair, he did miss a kick in the Champions League semi-final so he's not exactly a guaranteed scorer.

As well as the fact that even if Ronaldo had gone earlier, it's probable that Bruno Alves would have still missed and Portugal gone out.

He also missed in Moscow against Chelsea.............

If there is one criticism of Ronaldo, its his tendency to go missing in big games.

Stella wrote:

Smirnoffpriest wrote:What difference would it have made? If Ronaldo had taken the 4th penalty and scored (not guarenteed) then it would only have tied the game, then there would have been even more pressure on Alves and he would have been even more likely to miss, meaning Spain still win.

Talk about a mountain out of a molehill, just because the press wanted to see Ronaldo take a pen...

Just asking

wtf have the press got to do with either? Sat there watching it, I was a tad surprised like most that he wasn't in the top three.

Umm the fact that after the penalties all the press in this question were going on about why Ronaldo didn't take a pen because they all wanted to see Ronaldo score against some of his team mates - and now loads of forums have got people asking the same question.
And it still doesn't change the fact that it's a moot point about when Ronaldo took a pen (4th or 5th).

Does it really matter anyway. No matter when Ronaldo took one, he'd still need 4 other teammates to score. Only 2 managed it.

Smirnoffpriest wrote:

Stella wrote:

Smirnoffpriest wrote:What difference would it have made? If Ronaldo had taken the 4th penalty and scored (not guarenteed) then it would only have tied the game, then there would have been even more pressure on Alves and he would have been even more likely to miss, meaning Spain still win.

Talk about a mountain out of a molehill, just because the press wanted to see Ronaldo take a pen...

Just asking

wtf have the press got to do with either? Sat there watching it, I was a tad surprised like most that he wasn't in the top three.

Umm the fact that after the penalties all the press in this question were going on about why Ronaldo didn't take a pen because they all wanted to see Ronaldo score against some of his team mates - and now loads of forums have got people asking the same question.
And it still doesn't change the fact that it's a moot point about when Ronaldo took a pen (4th or 5th).

Don't see all the press going on about it tbh.

swann

But by scoring early, the pressure builds on the other team, so get him in early.

England and Bayern both took early leads in the shoot out and lost.

This is just the media making a big deal out of nothing really.

Graeme Swann's Cat wrote:England and Bayern both took early leads in the shoot out and lost.

This is just the media making a big deal out of nothing really.

Possibly?

Anyway, I'm leaving it at that and going home for a much needed shower

Graeme Swann's Cat wrote:If there is one criticism of Ronaldo, its his tendency to go missing in big games.

He's scored in a Champions League final (2008) and more recently bagged the winner twice against Barcelona, one in the Spanish Cup final and the other at the Nou Camp in what was described as 'the title decider' last season. I'd call them big games.

All well and good if hes played in 3 big games in his career.

Graeme Swann's Cat wrote:All well and good if hes played in 3 big games in his career.

You could of course name a big game where he has gone missing then??...

Sand wrote:

As Crimey says, Drogba went last in the champs league final and no one said anything at all.

That's because the rest of the team kept Chelsea in the hunt, and of course, Drogba scored.

Such are the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.


.

CL final vs Barca, numerous games vs Barca, I believe the only time he scored vs Chelsea was that final. Not just scoring, but a tendency to go missing.

Has it even been confirmed he was down as number 5? Maybe he wasn't taking one at all? Maybe he practices loads of penalties against Casillas in training at Real so they thought his teammates might have a better chance of scoring?

jeffwinger wrote:Has it even been confirmed he was down as number 5? Maybe he wasn't taking one at all? Maybe he practices loads of penalties against Casillas in training at Real so they thought his teammates might have a better chance of scoring?

It has been confirmed he was at number 5, apparently the manager and Ronaldo both agreed for him to take number 5.

A few thoughts -

Penalty shoot outs are mainly about pressure and how you handle it. Every pro footballer should be able to strike a decent enough shot from 12 yards to beat even a great keeper, but it's whether they can execute that under the pressure of a match or particularly a shoot-out.

Going first is a big advantage if you score. After Spain's initial miss, a Portugal goal would definitely have switched the pressure around, and Ramos wouldn't have had the confidence to float his kick down the middle.

The order of takers is important - for me, you have to have one of your best two taking the first kick, with your probable weakest links as second and third (least pressurised kicks), with good penalty takers 4th and 5th as these are the ones that could win or lose you the shootout. So I'm not that fussed that Ronaldo was 5th to take - you have to try to make the best of the resources you have.

The difference between success and failure is remarkably slim - Alves hit the underside of the bar and the ball came out, while Fabregas hit the inside of the post and the ball shot across the goal line .half a ball's width lower from Alves and about 1/16th of a ball's width wider from Fabregas and you'd have been taking about a very different story.

dummy_half wrote:A few thoughts -

Penalty shoot outs are mainly about pressure and how you handle it. Every pro footballer should be able to strike a decent enough shot from 12 yards to beat even a great keeper, but it's whether they can execute that under the pressure of a match or particularly a shoot-out.

Going first is a big advantage if you score. After Spain's initial miss, a Portugal goal would definitely have switched the pressure around, and Ramos wouldn't have had the confidence to float his kick down the middle.

The order of takers is important - for me, you have to have one of your best two taking the first kick, with your probable weakest links as second and third (least pressurised kicks), with good penalty takers 4th and 5th as these are the ones that could win or lose you the shootout. So I'm not that fussed that Ronaldo was 5th to take - you have to try to make the best of the resources you have.

The difference between success and failure is remarkably slim - Alves hit the underside of the bar and the ball came out, while Fabregas hit the inside of the post and the ball shot across the goal line .half a ball's width lower from Alves and about 1/16th of a ball's width wider from Fabregas and you'd have been taking about a very different story.

+1

dummy_half wrote:A few thoughts -

Penalty shoot outs are mainly about pressure and how you handle it. Every pro footballer should be able to strike a decent enough shot from 12 yards to beat even a great keeper, but it's whether they can execute that under the pressure of a match or particularly a shoot-out.

Going first is a big advantage if you score. After Spain's initial miss, a Portugal goal would definitely have switched the pressure around, and Ramos wouldn't have had the confidence to float his kick down the middle.

The order of takers is important - for me, you have to have one of your best two taking the first kick, with your probable weakest links as second and third (least pressurised kicks), with good penalty takers 4th and 5th as these are the ones that could win or lose you the shootout. So I'm not that fussed that Ronaldo was 5th to take - you have to try to make the best of the resources you have.

The difference between success and failure is remarkably slim - Alves hit the underside of the bar and the ball came out, while Fabregas hit the inside of the post and the ball shot across the goal line .half a ball's width lower from Alves and about 1/16th of a ball's width wider from Fabregas and you'd have been taking about a very different story.

Great post. Especially the last paragraph. The aftermath of penalty shootouts are often over-analysed.

I don't agree but nice post dummy!

Leaving your main penalty taker till last is too risky. I know in hindsight it's easy for me to say but I've always felt this.

Much can go wrong before the fifth is taken and it did.

The 5th can often be the most pressured kick too though, needed to stay alive/win.

Its all much ado about nothing really, Even if Ronaldo had scored, Portugal still lose.

So could the 7th kick but would you wait that long as well?

And the shootout could be over before the 4th round. Bento isn't psychic, he had no way of knowing.

Stella wrote:I don't agree but nice post dummy!

Leaving your main penalty taker till last is too risky. I know in hindsight it's easy for me to say but I've always felt this.

Much can go wrong before the fifth is taken and it did.

You still haven't answered the points made previously - if Ronaldo had gone 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th and scored (not guarenteed) then Alves would have had even more pressure to score the final penalty and if he missed (as he did on the 4th pen) then Portugal lose - so what's the difference from Alves taking the 4th penalty and missing and Portugal losing?