Question Number: 28787

Law 14 - Penalty kick 9/26/2014

RE: Select Under 17

Tony Fong of Norton, MA USA asks...

Hi. In a recent high school game, my daughter was awarded a penalty kick. As she setup for the PK, the opposing keeper came up to her and the referee, spoke to them, and said she was cleaning the ball which she did. It was obviously antics on her part to get into my daughter's head and throw her off. My daughter buried the PK by the way. That's because she's seen this before. Two years earlier in a divisional championship game, her team went to PK's. The opposing keeper jogged up into each of our shooter's faces and backpedal'ed to the line. The farce was she was warming up before each kick but once again getting right up to the shooters faces and trying to get into their heads. It may have worked because many of the 14 year old girls put subpar shots on goal. Each incident I described, the referee allowed this behavior without any warning. I realize that the keeper must stay on the line and can move along the line during the shot but can they really move into the shooter's territory before the shot? I would think this is unsportsmanlike conduct worthy of a yellow card. Thanks for your feedback.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Tony,
you have a very valid point, even though in my opinion, Gamesmanship is part of competitive soccer. That said I will bow to our resident high school expert as to how the high school laws might consider intimidation as a form of abuse. taunting they call it and not permit the keeper to engage in theatrics without penalty!
A keeper deliberately marching up to look you square in the eyes and saying or just glaring, 'you are going to miss!', is in my opinion only,not worthy of a caution, cause you look back and say, confidently 'Wanna bet sugar pie!'
Unless the intimidation is so profound as to pass that barrier of gamesmanship into unfair play.
Teach PK shooters to decide where they want to go with the shot, never even look at the keeper directly, just a glance to see the position and a firm pass into the corner usually works!


Mind you I am very particular on PKS! As I hand the ball directly to the shooter, eye contact and say you wait for the whistle get affirmative nod/answer and then they set the ball on the mark! The keeper could ask me to clean the ball and I might relent if I was holding it but certainly not once I handed it off to the shooter. I might also mention to the keeper to stay on their line until the shot is taken once the ball is placed on the mark. We ready to do this? Good luck to both of you!

If the keeper had insulted your player with vulgar or racial slurs or unsporting display or gestures or was not heeding my warning to take her /his position on the goal line once the ball was on the mark, I likely caution, only send off if the action was abusive misconduct!
At the recent World cup the Dutch substituted their keeper with another solely to defend the PKS! He was very demonstrative and all puffed up and he was ultimately successful but I agree with my colleague Ref McHugh he was pushing the line. I recall the another keeper doing the list thing where he would point to the player and use his finger like a gun then point to his list which was inside his sock as if to say I know what you do and where you are likely to put the ball . Later in interviews with the players they admitted it played with their heads so perhaps there is something to a cocky keeper but a good shooter has the edge 75% of the time. I have to wonder if at the recreational level if this is relatively accurate?

PKs Sh%
EPL 77.8
La Liga 73.8
Ligue 1 74.9
Serie A 78.7
Bundes 77.3

Overall 76.8

Here's the distribution of PK outcomes:
Percent
Miss Net 3.1
Hit Post 2.8
Keeper Save 17.3
Goals scored 76.8
lol
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Tony
In this part of the world we call it sledging. Sledging is a term used in cricket to describe the practice whereby some players seek to gain an advantage by verbally intimidating the opposing player. The purpose is to try to weaken the opponent's concentration, thereby causing her to make mistakes or underperform.
There is debate in the cricketing world as to whether this constitutes acceptable gamesmanship or cheating. Certainly the purists have no time for this and I don't like.
Goalkeepers know that penalties are a psychological affair and many antics that they come up with are mind games. Sometimes it goes too far. I recall Joe Hart the England goalkeeper getting cautioned for this in the semi final of the 2009 under 21 Euro semi final and he missed the final as a result. In the WC the referee allowed the Dutch goalkeeper Tim Krul to physche out the Costa Rica players in the penalty kicks. Some believe he went too far and in my opinion there is a fine line between gamesmanship and plain cheating. Krul undoubtedly flirted with that line and the referee allowed it. In the Hart case the referee did not
I'm of the opinion that poor instructions and mechanics allow this to happen. If the referee speaks to both goalkeepers before the kick telling then want he expects it can prevent this happening. He can also step in to move the goalkeeper back when she attempts to come forward as there is no need for that to happen. Should it result in a caution? I would say that it should if the goalkeeper ignores the referees instruction, repeats the behaviour or holds up every single kick which was what Hart did that resulted in him being cautioned.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The wise referee puts a stop to this as soon as it happens. A warning (to both keepers) will usually suffice. A caution would be appropriate if the warning is ignored.

Answer provided by Referee Joe Manjone

Tony,

As mentioned above by my colleagues, the referee should instruct the goalkeeper to go to the goal and prepare for the penalty kick. If the goalkeeper then comes out and commits the type of act that you described above, he/she could be caution for unnecessary delay (NFHS Rule 12-8-1-f2) or for excessive focusing of attention on himself/herself (NFHS Rule 12-8-1-f12). If no instruction about going to or remaining at the goal has been given, the referee should ask the goalkeeper to get back in the goal when he/she approach the kicker.

I hope that you have a great season.