Matildas v England FIFA World Cup semi-final 2023: The secret to the penalty shootout

The mere mention of the words penalty shootout is enough to send a shockwave across England. So what’s the trick to overcoming the most nerve-wracking outcome of a match?

There’s not a sports-loving Australian who didn’t chew their fingernails to the bone during the Matildas’ World Cup quarter-final win over France last weekend.

The most nerve-racking way to decide the outcome of a match, penalty shootouts can be agony or ecstasy for the players called on to take a shot.

The trick is to remain calm - but that’s easier said than done when the entire nation is watching and the margins between success and failure are razor thin.

One player who managed to keep his cool in the most suffocating pressure was John Aloisi, who scored the decisive penalty that took the Socceroos through to the 2006 World Cup - ending a 32-year-drought.

Now working as commentator for Seven, he was on the sideline watching the Matildas and was blown away by the nerves of steel he witnessed first hand.

“I felt more nervous watching the girls than when I was taking it,” Aloisi said.

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Australia players react after triumphing in the longest penalty shootout in World Cup history. Picture: Getty

“It was such a roller coaster because we all wanted these girls to get over the line so much but they showed so much courage.

“People forget they got knocked out of the last World Cup on penalties and also at the Olympics in Brazil so they know what it feels like so what they did was huge.”

A sporting immortal remembered for the icy-cool way he converted his spot kick against Uruguay almost two decades ago, Aloisi said the key to taking penalties was to block out all the noise and not overthink things.

He said that all the Australian players that were involved in that unforgettable World Cup playoff against Uruguay practised penalties the day before, then were given a choice whether they wanted to step up or not.

Aloisi didn’t hesitate when he was asked.

“There‘s a lot of penalty takers that will watch the keeper and watch them move. I wasn’t one of them. I was more the type that I picked my side before I was about to take the penalty,” he said.

John Aloisi nails his penalty - and sends Australia to the 2006 World Cup. Picture: Getty

“I had practised penalties the day before and had hit them really well…so when it was my turn, that’s all that I was thinking about.

“I knew that if I hit it exactly the same that I did the day before then we were going to the World Cup so when I made the walk from halfway to the penalty spot, I felt like I was sort of floating.

“I was just so focused on the ball that I can‘t even remember any noise apart from a few murmurs in the crowd.

“I didn‘t look at the goalkeeper. It was all about putting the ball down, doing my run up and striking the ball like I did the day before.

“I didn‘t think about missing, I didn’t think about the importance of the penalty, other than I knew that if I scored we’ll go to the World Cup,

“I just said to myself ‘do exactly the same thing and we’re going to the World Cup’.

“That‘s sort of the way that I dealt with it. Thinking back now, if I thought about anything else, I would have been really scared about missing, so I’m lucky that I had that control over myself.”

Socceroos players celebrate after Aloisi hammers home his winning penalty.

It’s part of Australian folklore that Aloisi did score, slotting the ball into the top right corner of the net, past the goalkeeper’s outstretched left arm.

Then he set off on a wild celebratory run around Sydney’s Olympic stadium, ripping his gold Socceroos shirt off as the crowd went crazy.

“It‘s the best feeling,” Aloisi said. “But it’s hard to describe what that feeling is like unless you do it.

“My dream was to go to the World Cup and play in the World Cup and when I did put the ball in the back of the net, the elation was shared by everyone in the team and the stadium and all around the country.”

England players react to a miss during their successful penalty shootout against Nigeria. Picture: Getty

Until last weekend, Aloisi’s nerveless penalty was unchallenged as the greatest in Australian football history because of the magnitude of what it meant and the joy it triggered.

But he said he was happy to hand the baton over to Cortnee Vine, who hit the target with the matching winning kick against France, and hopes the Matildas can beat England in Wednesday’s semi-final and go on to become the first Australian soccer team to win a World Cup.

“I think the Matildas are everyone’s favourite sporting side in Australia now,” he said.

“There won’t only be girls practising penalties and saving penalties in the backyard, there will be boys as well as girls because that’s the influence they have on everyone at the moment.”

Originally published as Matildas v England FIFA World Cup semi-final 2023: The secret to the penalty shootout