It is quite understandable if at around nine o’clock last Sunday evening, sports lovers fell asleep on their couches, in front of their television sets, where they might have been ensconced for the previous 48 hours, their source of deep slumber an overdose of a sporting fanatic’s ultimate dream weekend. If aroused from their stupor, the sports lovers might have experienced grave difficulty in recalling the chronological order of events.
On Friday, the West Indies surprised themselves by beating a weakened Australian XI in the First T20, which possibly, more than a handful of fans had bothered to watch. Then there was Game Two of the NBA Finals between the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks.
On Saturday morning there was the Women’s Final at Wimbledon, and another T20 won again by the West Indies; no, that was not a dream. The couch potatoes could then have segued into the Copa America Final between Lionel Messi and Neymar, or was it Argentina and Brazil, which Brazil lost. Messi can finally lay claim to having won a title for his country, the record equalling fifteenth Copa America Championship.
On Sunday morning, there was the Men’s Final at Wimbledon, nothing to write home about, since it was one of the ‘Big Three’, Novak Djokovic (the other two being Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer), against the number eight seed, Matteo Berrettini. More than likely, the engraver had inscribed Djokovic’s name on the trophy before the match, and had returned home to watch the 2020 Euro Championships Final on the telly. For the record, Djokovic won in four sets, and the Big Three now equally share 60 major titles.
In the Euro Final, England were at home, in an electrifying atmosphere, facing Italy, the Azzurri. It had been 55 years since England had won a major competition, the 1966 World Cup, beating West Germany 4 – 2, in extra time, also at Wembley. English fans, especially football savvy lone couch potatoes, knew that it was not going to be a walk in the park, as the majority assumed. Having suffered the embarrassment of not qualifying for the 2018 World Cup Finals, this rebuilt Italian side, without a superstar, was on a 33-game unbeaten streak, with a reputation for a tough grinding defence.
Just as in the 2018 World Cup semi-final in Moscow, England struck immediately, with Luke Shaw, the left back, scoring his first international goal, within two minutes. As Italy enjoyed most of the possession in the second half, it was just a matter of time before England, who lacked their earlier spark and drive, conceded the equalizer, which came in the 67th minute. Tied 1 – 1 at full time, the packed house of 65,000 fans braced for the extra time period, knowing that any goal could be the decider.
With the clock ticking down to the final seconds and Italy winning a corner, England’s Coach Gareth Southgate took the calculated risk of replacing two defenders with two young players, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, with the potential penalty shootout in mind. Still deadlocked after 120 minutes, the English fans’ shoulders and spirit must have sunk, keenly aware of their woeful 2 – 6 record in penalty shootouts. While the Italian fans tried to block the memory of their then superstar Roberto Baggio launching the final kick of the 1994 World Cup Final shoot-out into the stands to give Brazil the trophy.
After nine penalties, with Italy holding a 3 – 2 edge, the 19-year-old phenom, Bukayo Saka, who had never taken a penalty at this level, stepped forward, much to the amazement of all the football pundits. With the weight of England resting on his narrow shoulders, Saka’s left-footed shot was blocked by the 6’ 5” Italian goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma lunging to his left. Italy were European Champions again.
Penalty kicking is often a psychological cat and mouse game between the goalkeeper and the spot kicker. Arguments abound on the best strategy to adopt in taking the kick. Some favour the approach taken by the likes of the former Leeds United player, Peter Lorimer, who unleashed thunderbolts, one of which is alleged to have cracked a goalpost, while others prefer that of Gary Lineker, former England striker, turned media pundit, who relied on calmness and selective placement. Then, of course, there is the Panenka.
The only previous European Championships decided by penalty kicks was the 1976 final in which Czechoslovakia edged West Germany. After Uli Hoeness’ kick had sailed over the bar, to give the Czechs a 4 – 3 lead, Antonin Panenka, a skilful midfielder, calmly slotted the ball down the centre, as German keeper Sepp Maier dived to his left. It is the only shoot-out the Germans have ever lost and it is probably the cheekiest goal to ever win a major tournament. Brazilian great, Pele, had described Panenka as “either a genius or a madman.” At that moment of intense pressure, Panenka had had the nerve to attempt the unlikeliest of options that was filtering through Maier’s mind.
In Sunday’s shoot-out, the fourth Italian kicker, Bernardeschi, had emulated Panenka, smacking it straight down the middle as England goalie Jordan Pickford lunged to his right. It turned out to be the decisive goal in the shoot-out, the one that made Italy the European Champion for the second time in 53 years.
Having witnessed exhilarating highs and depressing lows all weekend, particularly given the fallout in England after Sunday’s loss and the revolting descent to racism which followed, the sports lovers were then left to muse from their couches that in life, we are all faced with moments filled with the intense pressure such as that faced by the penalty takers. Some of us have nerves of steel and can adopt Panenka’s approach and calmly resolve the issue. Others might succumb to the pressure and fail at the task. At the end of the day, it’s not about whether or how we fail, but how and if we lift ourselves up after the fact.
