Cristiano Ronaldo and the Alves-Nani fiasco

Yesterday, we saw Spain and Portugal play out a 0-0 draw. Neither side created too many chances (though Portugal looked a bit more likely to score), so it was no surprise that the match went to a penalty shootout, the second of the tournament so far.

Now, in a penalty shootout, the list of players nominated to take penalties has to be given to the referee before the shootout starts.

As a manager, the quality you’d look for while choosing a penalty taker is not so much a player’s ability to kick the ball with power and accuracy, but his ability to handle pressure (any professional should be able to score from 12 yards without pressure!) This is the reason we saw the most experienced players take penalties yesterday, including all the playing centre-backs on both sides. Young strikers and wingers like Pedro, Nelson Oliveira and Jesus Navas missed out as it was probably felt they couldn’t handle the huge pressure.

The order of penalty takers is absolutely vital. It’s all very well keeping your best player for the high-pressure 5^th penalty (as Portugal did with Ronaldo), where he might have to score to either win the game for his team or keep the team in the game. But often, it doesn’t even reach the last penalty (for example, yesterday), so is it such a good idea giving your best player the last penalty?

Absolutely not! The first one is the most important one. If you miss the first penalty, and the other team scores, you’re always playing catch-up. So, Ronaldo, without doubt Portugal’s best player, should have taken the first penalty, and put Portugal one up after Xabi Alonso had seen his penalty saved by Rui Patricio. Instead, Joao Moutinho took the first penalty, and Casillas saved it to keep it 0-0.

So, is this an indication that Cristiano Ronaldo, normally so (over)confident, was actually nervous? Was he scared of missing? Remember, he missed a penalty against Bayern Munich in the Champions League semifinal recently. But, he has had a good tournament so far, so that shouldn’t have worried him. Far more likely, I think, is that he wanted to take the winning penalty as he would get most attention that way. But it was not to be.

The shootout also had an additional bit of drama. Bruno Alves, Portugal’s centre-half, took the long walk to the penalty spot to take his team’s 3^rd penalty. But Nani ran after him, indicating that it was actually his turn. While Nani did score, Alves hit the post when he eventually took the 4^th penalty. The pressure had obviously got to him.

Before that, Sergio Ramos scored his penalty with a chip. It wasn’t as beautiful as Andrea Pirlo’s outrageous penalty against England, but was impressive coming from a player who took a horrible penalty against Bayern Munich in that same semifinal as Ronaldo (blasting it over the bar). That showed the defender’s character.

So it was Cesc Fabregas who got the chance to put Spain in the final with his penalty. He did, scoring off the post, prompting Ronaldo to smile wryly, as he never got to take a penalty. Will we see any more penalty shootouts this tournament? What do you think?