Penalty shootouts are one of the most exciting aspects of football. The thrill and drama generated by these shootouts are often unparalleled and they truly are exhilarating. We have witnessed some these iconic moments over the years be it Zinedine Zidane’s exquisite panenka during the 2006 FIFA World Cup final against Italy or Netherlands stopper Tim Krul’s incredible performance after he came on as a substitute for the shootout against Costa Rica and won them the game.
But how often do we see a goalkeeper saving all the penalty kicks in a single shootout?
Goalkeeper Chris Oldfield of Hume City FC has saved an unbelievable four penalties in a shootout against rivals Melbourne Knights in the NPL Elimination Final in August. Penalty shots normally go in favour of the kicker yet Oldfield saved four straight Knights penalties to send his team into the semi-finals.
The game had ended in a 2-2 draw and Hume City FC emerged victorious in the resulting penalty shootout 2-0 thanks to Oldfield’s heroics. The stopper was in inspired form thwarting all four attempts of the Melbourne Knights’ players.
Hume City coach Louie Acevski was dumbfounded by what he had witnessed. He said he was confident Oldfield could do the job but didn’t expect what unfolded.
“You normally back the kicker to score 80 percent of the time and the keeper to save 20 percent,” Acevski said as reported by StarWeekly
“I’ve never seen a goalkeeper save four penalties in a row. After the first two, you could see the third player was nervous. Chris had them on the back foot and I knew he was going to save the fourth shot.”
Hume City FC are based in Victoria, Australia and are members of the National Premier League.
