#5 Cristiano Ronaldo should have gone first in the penalty shootout
It is not the first time that Cristiano Ronaldo had opted to save himself for the all-important 5th spot kick in a penalty shootout. In fact, it was the second time he had done that and coincidentally, on both occasions, his team lost the shootout before he could even step up to dispatch the spot-kick.
In the semi-fiinal of the 2012 Euros, Portugal and Spain were tied at 0-0 after extra-time and penalties were on the cards. The 4-time Ballon d’Or winner opted to take the 5th spot kick, however, misses from Joao Moutinho and Bruno Alves ensured that the Seleccao were knocked out even before Ronaldo could step up. A similar scenario repeated last night.
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In the other penalty shootout that Portugal have had to face during the last few years i.e. in the quarter-finals of UEFA Euro 2016 against Poland, it was Cristiano Ronaldo who took the first penalty for his side and successfully converted, thereby giving his side the confidence boost to prevail in the shootout.
The 32-year-old should have done the same last night, at least that is what should be expected from one of the best players in the world – to step up and provide the boost for his side rather than sitting idle and waiting for the opportunity to arrive to make the headlines.
IMPORTANT THINGS TO NOTE:
#1 The referee is only informed about the names of the penalty takers, and not in which order they will be taking the penalties. The perfect example for this was seen in the UEFA Euro 2012 semi-final between Portugal and Spain, when Bruno Alves was making his way to take the 3rd penalty but was replaced by Nani halfway through it. Nani converted his penalty but Alves who took the 4th penalty missed and Portugal crashed out of the tournament.
Here is the video proof of it:
