Australia prepares for penalty shootout with help from legend Mile Jedinak
Dallas: As they prepare for what will be their toughest competition, a knockout World Cup clash with Egypt, Australia have unsurprisingly spent time this week working out how best to execute the most brutal decision of all: the penalty shoot-out.
Helpfully, the players also managed to get inside the mind of ace penalty taker Mile Jedinak, the former Socceroos captain who never missed the penalty spot.
Two rounds of the last 32 ended in penalty shoot-outs; Morocco beat the Netherlands and Paraguay eliminated Germany. In addition, sports analytics company Opta predicts that the closest fight this knockout stage will be Australia and Egypt (the Pharaohs were given a 54 percent chance of winning). For this reason, There is every reason to prepare.
The Socceroos have never participated in a penalty shootout at a World Cup, but some of the team’s most iconic moments have come from them. Consider John Aloisi’s penalty winner against Uruguay in 2005, goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne’s “Grey Wiggle” performance against Peru in a 2022 World Cup qualifier and Mark Schwarzer’s two saves in a qualifier against Canada in 1993.
There is also the legend of Jedinak, who scored 16 penalties in a storied career that took him from the Central Coast Mariners to the Turkish and English Premier Leagues and three World Cups with the Socceroos.
He didn’t miss even once.
“For me, everything was very simple; I always focused on what I had to do, which was to put the ball in the net,” explains Jedinak.
“It was as simple as seizing the moment, controlling the situation with the ball, trying not to focus on anything else. It was all about the ball, me and where to put the ball, clean contact, strong enough to beat the keeper if he was strong enough if he went in the right direction.”
“I was lucky enough to do that for the country a few times.”
Those few goals include three goals from World Cup penalties against the Netherlands in 2014 and both France and Denmark in 2018, with Jedinak now returning to the tournament as assistant to Socceroos coach Tony Popovic.
Before flying to Dallas, the Socceroos spent time training at the Oakland base camp in the days following the draw against Paraguay in case of a penalty shootout, considering who might step in if the moment arose.
Jedinak said that the coaching staff had previously examined the players in the squad who took penalties in high-pressure situations, but after 120 minutes of football they had to take this into account., There is no certainty as to who will be on the field at the end of extra time..
“It also comes down to who is comfortable and who is willing,” he said. “I can only speak from my experience as a player in those moments. Even when you’re preparing for previous matches, even if it’s not with the national team, you try to gain some familiarity, but it’s very difficult to repeat that on the night because you’ve added certain things… the pressure, the crowd, all that.”
Although he said he was more than willing to offer any assistance regarding sentencing, it was up to individuals to “determine their own process.”. “It’s not simple, to be honest, but I don’t think it’s that complicated either.”
It may not be complicated for the icy Jedinak, but sports scientists say the pressure on a player can reach “inhumane” levels. Geir Jordet, professor at the Norwegian School of Sports Sciences and author of the book Edition: Lessons from the Psychology of Penalty ShootoutsHe said that in his research, “the one emotion that everyone agrees is present is anxiety.”
The Socceroos players featured in the media this week have all been willing to publicly step forward and kick the conflict if it comes to that. While defender Alessandro Circati insisted that he had full confidence in such situations, forward Ajdin Hrustic, who converted the penalty in the shootout for his club Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2022 Europa League Final, said that he was “calm”.
Full-back Jordan Bos has never received such an offer but says it could work in Australia’s favour. “Maybe that won’t do the goalkeeper any good. It’s a little secret.”
The Socceroos have an 80 per cent success rate in penalty shoot-outs – four wins out of five in major international matches – but their last shootout came four years ago. On that infamous night, Redmayne was substituted for Mat Ryan in the 120th minute, specifically for penalties. His wacky dance technique worked, becoming a viral sensation and booking Australia’s ticket to Qatar.
The International Football Association Board responded a year later by changing the rules, ordering that the goalkeeper “shall not act in a manner that unfairly distracts the attention of the shot”.
This success rate places the Socceroos in the second-highest position among the last 32 teams in the World Cup, behind Belgium, who won their only try.
Egypt competed in 13 penalty shoot-outs with a score of 6-7. The last one was in January this year, when they drew 0-0 with Nigeria in the third place match at the African Cup of Nations and lost 4-2.
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Nick Ralston is deputy editor and research editor of The Sydney Morning Herald. He previously served as news editor, justice editor and world editor.Connect with: X or email.
