Paraguay defeated Japan in their second round match in the first penalty kick shootout of the 2010 World Cup by a count of 5-3. Japan's Yuichi Komano was the only player to miss for either team, and Oscar Cardozo converted the winning shot for Paraguay. Watching the shootout, and Komano's miss, brought up an interesting question: If you were the unfortunate player who misses a penalty kick in a shootout, what is the best way to miss? Have your shot saved by the goalkeeper, smack a shot off the post or crossbar, or miss the goal completely? Komano's shot hit the crossbar, and in perhaps one of the best-remembered misses in recent history, Italy's Roberto Baggio skied his shot high over the goal and missed completely in the 1994 World Cup Final in the Rose Bowl, giving the title to Brazil. I would go with hitting the post or crossbar; having the shot saved implies that it just wasn't a very good effort, regardless of how great the save might be, while missing the goal completely is probably even worse. It's a 12-yard shot, after all, and a professional player should be able to at least put the ball on target, even if the goalkeeper picks the right spot and makes the save. Hitting the post or woodwork and missing would still be bad, but who can get mad at you for missing the mark by a matter of inches? Plus, it's a lot more exciting than the other two ways to miss, and goalkeepers can't really celebrate because they didn't make a save, they just got lucky. So what do you think? What's the best way to miss a penalty kick?
A). Off the post or crossbar
B). Shot saved by the goalkeeper
C). Miss the goal completely
D). Other (hit a bird in mid-air, rejected by a blast of air from thousands of vuvuzelas blown simultaneously, have a shot clearly cross the line only to be missed by the referee and his assistant despite being clear to everyone else watching all over the world)
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