The goalkeeper of the Croatian national team, Dominik Levakovic, succeeded brilliantly in blocking 3 penalty kicks, as if he knew where the Japanese would take their kicks in advance, which prompted us to ask: How did he know where to take the kicks? We put the question to one of the goalkeeper coaches to answer.
Mustafa Ismail Al-Jamal, former coach of the goalkeepers at the Qatari Army Club, responded, saying, “Tackling penalties or penalty kicks has several schools, including: that the goalkeeper plays in the direction of the ball through the speed of his reaction, and the second is that the goalkeeper chooses a certain angle and goes directly to it, no matter what happens.”
Al-Jamal added, “What is new in these schools – which is what the Croatian goalkeeper followed once morest Japan – is to rely on the expectations of performance analysts who follow the players of the competing teams in the leagues in which they play, and get to know the angle in which they always or often take penalty kicks, and transmit that in written form.” For the goalkeeper to memorize it according to the numbers of the players, and this trend has become prevalent – currently – at the level of elite teams.
Al-Jamal explained, “It all depends on success in the end, so sometimes the goalkeeper knows where the shot is and goes to it, but the speed and strength of the ball or its direction to a very difficult angle for him makes him not block it, and this new direction made some players shoot hard in the middle of the goal, but it is a method that sometimes disappoints.” with the players.”
Croatia in the quarter-finals thanks to a penalty shootout
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???? https://t.co/alkogGtHdW#Qatar2022 | #World_Cup_Qatar_2022 | #Croatia_Japan #WorldCupQatar2022 | #Qatar2022| #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/DLmzvD21Cj— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) December 5, 2022
