This is how you should run for a football’s penalty rebound
Penalties. For some, one of the easiest ways of scoring a goal, and for others one of the most challenging moments. When thousands or millions of spectators are watching that 11 meters seem pretty far. A miss is not always crucial because it may contain a rebound. But to be there for it requires some inventiveness. One particularly stands out.
The referee points to the spot. VAR confirms it. Players begin to talk. Eventually, someone decides to take a penalty. The more important the shot the more nervous the player taking a penalty usually gets.
Ways of distracting the shooter do not come only from the fans (shouting, laser lights, waving …), they come from the opposition players as well.
Trash talk, destroying the pitch either on a spot or on a place where penalty takers will place their foot, kicking the ball away when it is already placed … Desperate measures never seem to disappoint.
But, these long preparation moment takes away the next crucial detail when a penalty is taken. Where to expect a rebound if a goalkeeper saves a shot? Or if a penalty taker hits a post or a crossbar?
As practically always, the penalty taker’s teammates line up to his left and to his right on the edge of a penalty box. Believe it or not, besides watching shots from the previous matches, that’s also one of the indicators on which the opposing goalkeepers can guess the shot’s upcoming direction.
So, you do not want to give any free tips to the opposing goalkeepers. Just stand left and right and let them guess as best as they can.
As a goalkeeper, I always had to watch the penalties from the completely opposite side of the pitch when one of my teammates was taking it. I took some of them myself but that’s not the point.
The point is that I always knew how to run for a rebound and that I am screwed if an opposition player would do the same if the situation would be the opposite.
When already standing on the edge of a penalty box, any player must not enter it before a penalty taker strikes a ball. As soon as they touch it, everyone can run into the box. If they are inside the box too quickly, a penalty must be repeated.
So, basically, it is a short sprint that begins from standing still on the spot. But what if a player enters the box at the right time with an already accomplished speed? Now we are talking …
During my career and watching football on television, I was amazed how players don’t try to benefit from that more often.
Instead of waiting on the edge of the box standing still, players can time their runs for let’s say 10 meters and enter the box by already running right when the ball had left the penalty taker’s boot.
In that case, it is not a short sprint with everybody from the same position. It’s an inventive way of getting an upper hand because these players had already accomplished speed.
And with that, they gave themselves more chance of getting to the rebound first. Moreover, if they time their run from the middle, the chance of getting to a rebound also increases because they can respond to the left and to the right. Unlike wishing a ball will come their way.
All in all, when I saw Saúl Ñíguez doing just that in a Champions League match between Atlético Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen I was thrilled that these small exceptional moments appear.
Especially on such a high level. I hope Bayer’s fans won’t resent me for saying it, but I was sad that Saúl Ñíguez didn’t score. Just because of the pure class of an act itself. However, I am eager to see which of the players will pull the same maneuver next time.
