Scoring from the penalty spot may look like the easiest thing to do for the audience but not many realize the amount of thought and precision it needs.
There’s no margin for error and even the slightest of miscalculations can result in success or failure, quiet evident from the World Cup Semi-Final match that Netherlands lost to Argentina on spot-kicks.
But still there are certain players in the world and when they step up it is obvious that they are unlikely to miss no matter how good the goalie is. We have witnessed such players take penalties both during the game and after.
Hence we compiled a list of players who have had a 100% conversion rate in the 2014 Brazil World Cup. There have been 6 players who have done so.
Here’s the list in no particular order.
1. Neymar Jr.: The poor player had to sit back and watch his team pummeled by Germany and hand his team the worst defeat in their football history. If it was for him things certainly would have been a whole lot different. The player took two spot kicks during his campaign one against Croatia, which came from a Fred’s dive in the opening game for Brazil and the other, was against Chile in the Quarter Finals. The player converted both the penalties to maintain a cent per cent Spot-kick record.
2. Arjen Robben: The Dutchman literally zapped past the field from the half way mark to the opposition’s goal and scored, all in a matter of seconds. Fans lovingly have started to call his Flash after the comic book superhero known for his lightning fast speed. He also had two attempts from penalty spot, one against Costa Rica in the Quarter Finals and the other against Argentina in the Semi-Finals in spite of which his team could not progress. He makes the list for maintain a 100% conversion rate.
3. Dirk Kuyt: Another player with a spot on penalty conversion rate is another Dutchman Dirk Kuyt known for his outstanding abilities in both defense and offense. Having played in his third World Cup the winger has also maintained having successfully netted two attempts into the back of the net. He also won 100 caps for his country in the Last 16 stage game against Mexico.
4. Giancarlo Gonzalez: The Costa Rican defender was the most crucial player among his teammates as he helped man the back line that withstood attacks from all the giants from teams like Uruguay, Italy, Greece, England and Netherlands. He stepped up for his country to net the ball from a spot kick on two occasions, once against Greece in the Last 16 stage and another time against the Dutch of which he successfully converted both.
5. Celso Borges: The Costa Rican was among the handful who managed to put his ball from the spot kick into the back of the net. He stepped up and scored against Greece and Netherlands but his heroics were not enough as Tim Krul sealed his team’s destiny and put Borges’ Costa Rica out of contention with his two awesome saves.
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