Here's a wee article from my blog I thought you guys might find interesting;
When Rangers qualified for the
UEFA Cup final on Thursday they extended an amazing run of penalty kick successes this season. It was the third competition in which Rangers managed to win a game from a shoot-out. But even more remarkably we should all have know that they would win the shoot-out before it even started…
In last month’s 442 magazine I read an interesting letter from Mark Stephenson. He’d noticed a long-standing trend concerning English teams and their records in Penalty Shoot-Outs. Earlier in the competition, Spurs and Everton bowed out of the
UEFA on spot-kicks. Nothing new there then, until you realise that both shoot-outs took place on the left of the pitch as you watched on TV. Eh? So what?
Think back to other shoot-outs involving English teams; Germany, Portugal, Argentina - all lost and all taken on the left of your screen. This guy lists another 11 games that are lost by an English side when the pens are on the left, or won when the games are on the right;
- England v West Germany 1990: Left = Lost
- England v Germany 1996: Left = Lost
- England v Portugal 2004: Left = Lost
- England v Portugal 2006: Left = Lost
- England v Belgium 1998: Left = Lost
- England v Argentina 1998: Left = Lost
- England v Spain 1996: Right = Won
- Arsenal v Galatasaray 2000: Left = Lost
- Spurs v Anderlecht 1984: Right = Won
- Liverpool v Roma 1984: Right = Won
- Liverpool v AC Milan 2005: Right = Won
I also recall a penalty shoot-out win for Rangers away to PSG - again I think they took them to the right of the screen. But I also remember two shoot-outs involving Celtic. One against Valencia (taken to the right) which they lost and this season against Spartak Moscow (taken to the left) which they won.
So I’m not sure that this trend extends to all British teams - maybe just the English. If anyone has any info on shoot-outs that aren’t listed above let me know in the comments below.
With betting-in-running markets all the rage I’ll be watching this one with interest from now on.