PENALTY CHEAT SHEET: ENG v ITA - How did we do?

FOOTBALL - In the past months, we have done meticulous research on penalty takers, especially the ones involved in a Euro 2012 squad. England and Italy were the first to contest a penalty shootout and we are now ready to evaluate our own predictions.

What made us look good

We called all of England’s penalties to perfection. Rooney and Gerrard picked the spot we were expecting, Young fooled Buffon with his arched run-up and Cole went to his trusted bottom right corner.

What could have made us look better

We never suspected that Andrea Pirlo would execute his penalty in that manner. In our entire research, we had never seen him do it. We are quite sure that we are not the only ones he caught off guard.

What made us look bad

Glen Johnson apparently would have taken England’s fifth penalty. He was not even on our shortlist of takers. Our bad. Also, we should have put Riccardo Montolivo ahead of Thiago Motta.

What surprised us

Italy’s substitutions baffled us in light of a possible penalty shootout. Experienced takers like Cassano and De Rossi taken off and a genuine expert like Di Natale stranded on the bench. What also surprised us was Ashley Young’s penalty. With Buffon fooled by the arched run-up, there was no need to hit it so close to the crossbar.

How do you rate our performance? We would like to hear suggestions. Hit the ‘Comments’ button if you wish to share. Thanks!