Germany are famously good at taking penalties. We all know it. The numbers speak for themselves...
In World Cup history, the Germans (and we're including West Germany in this article) have contested four shootouts: 1982, 1986, 1990 and 2006. They've won them all. They've taken 18 penalties and missed just once (against France in 1982... they still won that match). This, despite the fact that opposition's goalkeepers have dived the correct way 50% of the time.
Since Jean-Luc Ettori saved from Uli Stielke in that first shootout, no goalkeeper has even touched another penalty. And, including that save, they've never missed the target in all that time. While other nations (we're looking mainly at you, England) have utterly soiled themselves in the biggest moments, Germans seem to take it all in their stride.
FFT was curious about this, and so we asked Andreas Brehme to explain why Germans are so good from 12 yards. In the dying moments of normal time, the former left-back scored the match-winning penalty against Argentina in the Italia 90 final. He's also one of the only people in history to take a penalty during World Cup-shootouts with both feet. His answer was the most German thing you'll read this year.
"You can’t practise penalties," a stoney-faced Brehme told FourFourTwo's December issue, which you can order here. "Franz Beckenbauer always used to tell us you could but I told him that wasn’t true as shooting in front of 60,000 people is totally different.
"I think Germans are just good at compartmentalising. There’s huge pressure, sure, but this is a single action that must be treated as such."
FFT proceeded to ask Brehme what the hell he was playing at taking penalties with two different feet during his World Cup career, given his English counterparts have failed to kick a ball straight with their stronger foot on so many occasions. If he absolutely had to, which foot would be opt for?
"I honestly don’t know," he sniffed. "I’d see how I felt in the moment. At Mexico 86, I was asked by a reporter why I’d taken a penalty in a shootout with my left foot, as he knew I usually shot with my right. I told him I hadn’t even noticed. It makes no difference."
Absolutely terrifying...
