The Hindu : Sport / Football : The long wait for the first penalty

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Friday, Jun 16, 2006

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The long wait for the first penalty

LEIPZIG : After five days of play at the 2006 World Cup, no penalty kicks had been awarded — a stark change from previous tournaments.

Swiss referee Massimo Busacca ended that streak in the 15th match on Wednesday, when he awarded Spain a dubious penalty for a foul committed by Vladyslav Vashchuk that looked like it took place outside the box. Spain's David Villa converted in the 48th minute for a 3-0 lead.

In 2002, South Africa's Quinton Fortune converted a penalty in injury time to give Bafana Bafana a tie against Paraguay in the sixth match of the tournament. In the opening match in 1998, Scotland's John Collins converted a penalty against Brazil.

The first penalty-kick goal in the 1994 came in the ninth game, when Rai scored for Brazil. On the second day of Italia '90, a tournament which was known for low-scoring and penalty kicks, Marius Lacatus of Romania scored on a penalty. Igor Belanov of the Soviet Union converted a penalty on the third day of play in 1986.

It took nine games for the first spot-kick goal in 1982, and only four matches in 1978. However, the 2006 tournament will not go down as the one with the longest drought before the first penalty-kick goal. In 1974, the first 20 matches of group play went by without a goal from the penalty spot. On the last day of group play, four games kicked off at the same time and the Netherlands' Johan Neeskens twice converted penalties in a 4-1 rout of Bulgaria.

Croatian invasion

German authorities, on Wednesday, slapped a euro140 fine on the Croatian fan, who ran past security onto the field during Tuesday night's game between Croatia and Brazil.

The 20-year-old Croat — who ran onto the pitch at Berlin's Olympic Stadium, knelt in front of striker Dado Prso and hugged his leg — was fined for disturbing the peace and causing bodily injury, said Michael Grunwald, a spokesman for Berlin prosecutors.

Selective statistics

England hasn't played as bad as the critics suggest, says coach Sven-Goran Eriksson — it's all in the statistics. Even if they've been selectively read.

``Shots on goal, we are the best, together with Brazil. Thirteen shots, five on target. Brazil, six on target. I don't think it was that bad, that game we played on Saturday (against Paraguay).'' — AP

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