Miroslav Klose reached 16 goals in four World Cups without relying on penalties. However, the 11-meter exercise is not the formality one might think. Proof of this: the two top provisional scorers (before the semi-finals of this 2026 World Cup), Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé, have missed two and one respectively. Lionel Messi, in particular, known for finding improbable angles and unstoppable top corners when taking long-range free kicks, seems afflicted by a strange handicap in this solitary face-off with the goalkeeper: in six World Cup editions, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has missed half, exactly four out of eight attempts. The psychological edge thus seems to lie with modern goalkeepers, especially when their ‘Yashin Trophy’ reputation precedes them and, standing at 1.90 meters tall, they seem capable of covering every square centimeter of a rectangle 7.32m wide and 2.44m high. Much blame was placed on the German players who refused to take the sixth penalty during the shootout against Paraguay: which is more shameful, this anticipated defection or the fear of the consequences of a trembling attempt?
The latest punchline, which it is fashionable to condemn as ‘racist’, is that of former Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy regarding the French national football team: ‘a France without French people’. In almost the same vein, regarding Lamine Yamal, who chose to play for Spain rather than wear the Moroccan jersey, the speech by the president of the Moroccan Football Federation, Fouzi Lekjaa, was not labeled as ‘hateful’: ‘I don’t know any Spaniard named Jamel,’ he had said. What should we also think of the thousands of Malagasy comments that ironize about a ‘Françafrique’ at the World Cup? By the way, where was the indignation when, in the enthusiasm of a victorious 1998 World Cup, it was fashionable in France to celebrate a ‘Black-Blanc-Beur’ (Black-White-Arab) team?
Captured & Published at: 2026-07-14 06:42:09 (Madagascar Local Time EAT)
Original Source: https://www.lexpress.mg/2026/07/penalty.html