James gives us an edge in shoo

Byline: Glenn Hoddle

IT'S when you're walking to the penalty spot from your group of teammates standing on the halfway line that you can lose a shootout. The mental torture screws up your mind, turns your legs to jelly. The pressure eats away at your confidence and memory.

Scoring from 12 yards shouldn't be that difficult, but it is.

On the 10-second walk, you begin to think and your mind wanders. It's only natural. Millions are watching at home; the nation is relying on you. Suddenly, the goal shrinks and the opposition goalkeeper looks like he fills the space. Where has the power gone in your legs? It's why, Replica Breitling Watches when people ask if you practise penalties in training, you can't recreate that moment. I left it to the players to practise when I was England coach, but there is no way of recreating the mental demands and pressures of a shootout with a kick-about at the end of training. No way whatsoever.

The players worked on it, but it's different after you have played 120 minutes of the most demanding football. Then you are suddenly asking players to be thrust into a position they may not even want to be in.

For a start, you will have an idea on your first-choice five for the kicks. But how do you know if they will still be on the pitch? Even if they have made the starting line-up, will they still be in the finishing lineup? Maybe they have been injured during the game, or taken off for tactical reasons.

When we went to penalties that night at France '98, we were down to nine outfield players after David Beckham's red card. As we gathered in a group at Sexy Lingerie the end of extra time, four players very quickly told me they didn't want to be involved. That left five players... hardly much choice!

You don't have time to try to convince those who are uncertain (even if you wanted to) because it's a matter of minutes before you have to inform the referee of your takers and the running order, which may have already been influenced by the substitutions made in the game.

The main area where you can make a difference is the preparation of your goalkeeper.

A goalkeeper needs to watch the kicker, look at his body shape -- study his foot movement. Watch, watch, watch, wait. I promise you, the kicker will show his intentions to the goalkeeper eventually.

The goalkeeper can practise this; wait for a clue, delay his move until the last moment and then react. David James is a big man, but he is agile and is capable of covering his goal, high and low. If it comes to a shootout, he could scare the life out of the Germans. And he looks in confident form.

Germany are good at shootouts, because they are clear in their minds (although I note that Lukas Podolski missed a penalty earlier in the competition). History, however, has inspired their confidence and they are also well prepared. Jens Lehmann once faced a penalty shootout with a note in his sock that included a run-down from the scouts on where the takers would aim for, based on their previous kicks.

Also, Ben Foster, then playing for Manchester United, was given a video insight into the Tottenham takers on an iPod before the shootout in the Carling Cup final. It worked, because they won the trophy. These are examples of how teams can try to gain an advantage.

I would also introduce a psychologist to work with the outfield players. Working hard on the state of mind of a footballer is a majo
Wow gold!:
Wow gold
Wow gold