Yahoo Sports 'I never feared a penalty shootout - I relished them'
Some people might fear the prospect of a penalty shootout at Euro 2024, but I have relished them ever since I was kid.
Whenever any tournament reaches the knockout stages, I cannot help getting excited about the possibility we might see one. They are an amazing way to finish a game.
If I know that a shootout is going on somewhere around the world then I will always do my best to find it and watch it. Most of the time I do not really care who wins or loses, I just enjoy seeing how they play out.
I love the drama, the excitement and the mind games that go into them, and I always want to see how all of that is dealt with and executed by the goalkeeper and the penalty taker.
I have been both, so I know how every aspect of the situation feels with success, and failure.
'I've never had a penalty saved'
I took a penalty for Celtic in a shootout to decide the Scottish Cup semi-final against Aberdeen in April. I hit the post but I made up for it immediately with the save that sent us through.
That was the first competitive spot-kick I had taken since 2009. I had scored that time, for England against Sweden in the semi-final of the European Under-21 Championship when we won on sudden death.
But I missed the first one I ever took, in 2005 for Shrewsbury Town against Sheffield United when I was 18. I hit the stanchion... and we lost, but I suppose I can say I never had a spot-kick saved.
On all three occasions, though, I was one of the first five takers, because I have always put my name forward to take them – I have not been stepping up reluctantly as 10th or 11th in line.
I took plenty more in pre-season games too. I know they are not as important but I always wanted to let the manager know that I felt confident, because I did.
Whenever I took a penalty I would always think that if I executed what I planned to do, it could not be saved. Probably the best example of that is the one I took for Manchester City in a friendly with Roma in 2015.
As a goalkeeper I know what is possible when you are standing on the line, in terms of what you can and cannot cover. With the right practice, I always felt I should be able to put it somewhere it cannot be reached.
When I took it, I just tried to get myself in a mode where I felt confident and comfortable standing over the ball. Even then obviously you can still miss, but I was happy with the way that one went.
Insight on takers works both ways
Purely from a goalkeeper’s perspective, I have experienced a few more. My first shootout for Manchester City was against Danish side FC Midtjylland in 2008 in the qualifying round for the old Uefa Cup.
It had been a hard game for the team but I saved two penalties and it was a big night for me personally as a young goalkeeper who had just come into the team.
Any information on their takers would have been pretty limited back then – but nowadays I would know everyone’s penalty history.
That works both ways, because takers are well aware that they are being watched now and players do not necessarily just have one way of doing things.
It turns into a psychological battle between taker and goalkeeper, and there is always loads going on. Look at the retaken penalty Robert Lewandowski scored for Poland against France earlier this week.
That stutter technique Lewandowski uses in his run-up frustrates a lot of fans but it is especially hard for a goalkeeper when they are facing someone who is confident enough to wait for a 'tell' from the goalkeeper and go the other way.
Even if they do not commit, like France goalkeeper Mike Maignan, Lewandowski was able to pull it far enough into the corner to make it impossible to save.
'I put myself in a false state of mind'
The taker is always the favourite but as a goalkeeper you have to revel in the fact you are more than capable of upsetting them.
I actually went as far as putting myself in a false state of mind.
I would put myself in a moment when someone was taking a penalty against me – in normal play too – where I was fully convinced I knew exactly what they were thinking, what their timing would be and exactly where they would put it.
Around 85 to 90 per cent of the time I would be wrong but it meant I was in a state of mind where I was confident and comfortable with what I was doing, and it gave me the best possible chance to save it.
Even with that mindset and all the information on takers, goalkeepers are still playing against people who can pretty much do whatever they want.
The Panenka penalty that Alessandro Pirlo scored against me for Italy in our quarter-final at Euro 2012 showed that.
It gets talked about a lot, and I thought it was an exceptional penalty, a moment of quality and class.
Obviously I would have loved to have just stood there, chested it down and whacked it back at him, but he knew exactly what I was going to do.
Pirlo is a flow player, who goes with what he feels. I do not even think he would know what he had done previously from the spot.
He had just orchestrated the entire game but I had played well too and I was in a moment where I was hard to beat.
I was very confident. His favoured penalty went the way I went, and I had thought if I am going to save this, I am going to go hard.
So I did that, but Pirlo understood how pumped up I was. A beautiful player like that understands the rhythm of football and he just placed it down the middle.
Penalties have to be part of the plan
Like it or not, penalties are likely to be part of the story of how this tournament is decided.
Greece in 2004 were the last team to win a European Championship without having a shootout on the way.
They have to be part of every team’s plan, and you can practice and prepare for them a lot.
Ultimately, though, I have always felt it is the decisions you make on the day that count - as the taker and the goalkeeper. Both of them are in charge of what they are doing – but only one of them ever comes out on top.
Joe Hart was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan in Berlin.
