In the most recent World Cup, Emiliano Martinez thrilled the world with his penalty shoot-out antics. So much so that FIFA is poised to completely ban a keeper’s ability to move or interact with a penalty taker.
But Martinez might want to take a look at goalkeeping compatriot Ricardo Perreira, who would not only save a penalty in unheard-of fashion but would further demonstrate his audacity by doing something unthinkable after saving England’s 7th penalty.
With England and Portugal meeting in the Euro 2004 Quarter-final, most had their eyes on this tie in particular.
Portugal Vs England
Both among the tournament favourites, hosts Portugal had played some good football in the group stage, bouncing back after a shock loss to eventual winners Greece in the first game.
A 19-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo had already captured the admiration of many, as he dazzled in his first major tournament. Alongside the established talents of Rui Costa, Maniche and Barcelona’s Deco, Portugal had an exciting team.
Add to that a home-soil advantage, and at this point, Portugal were looking like the favourites out of the remaining 8 teams.
But England on the other hand, was in the midst of a golden generation. The Euro 2004 English side featured Champions League and Ballon d’Or winners.
Beckham, Scholes, Lampard and Gerrard made up just the midfield four, with the only weak point of the squad being David James in goal, who was only weak by comparison to the impossibly high standards everywhere else in the team.
While squad depth was an issue, the English first eleven was terrifying. Rooney and Owen up top, Campbell and Terry in the heart of defence and Cole and Neville at full-backs, the outfield 10 would all go on to be regarded as legendary players.
England had done well to make it out of a tough group, featuring Croatia, Switzerland and 1998 World Cup winners France.
Finishing second, only through two 90th-minute Zidane goals that threw away a 1-0 lead,
When it came to the clash between these two titans it wouldn’t disappoint.
Right Into the Action
The English took immediate control as a poorly defended hoofed ball somehow found its way through to Michael Owen.
Owen might be about a foot smaller than Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but with his back to goal, and the ball looping over him, Owen produced a magical finish.
Reminiscent of Zlatan’s acrobatic Karate-inspired finishes, Owen displayed fantastic improvisation as he spun around and flicked the ball past Ricardo in goal.
It was a brilliant finish, born out of a terrible defensive header. Just 3 minutes in, it was that sort of goal Owen would have been dreaming of the night before.
England managed to hold on for another 80 minutes until Helder Postiga met a Simao cross, and flicked a header home.
It was awful defending, no one picked him up, and the English defenders didn’t even jump for the cross. When Postiga rose, he hung a good 2 feet above anyone else. England threw away their lead and were made to suffer extra-time.
Extra-Time
20 minutes later, hearts were in English mouths.
Rui Costa wriggled past Phil Neville, leaving him for dead on the floor, before unleashing a powerful drive from the edge of the box that smashed into the roof of the net. James in goal had no chance, but Neville was shrugged off far too easily.
Costa had put his team 2-1 up with 10 minutes left.
But England still had fight left, and in a game marred by 3 pieces of poor defending so far, both teams had shown that a goal could come at any moment.
England soon found that goal.
Just 5 minutes later however a poorly defended corner fell to Frank Lampard just outside the 6-yard box.
Time seemed to stand still for both sides. Lampard had his back to goal, with what seemed like acres of space. The Chelsea legend swivelled and leathered an equaliser into the back of the net.
England had restored parity, but with just 5 minutes left, another goal was unlikely.
Neither side managed to fashion a meaningful side, however, and the referee blew his whistle.
It was penalties, and every England fan by this point knew how it was going to go.
England’s recent record wasn’t good.
Penalty Pain?
With a record of 3 losses in 4, history wasn’t on England’s side. Worst of all, despite the general consensus, England weren’t bad penalty takers. Every lost shootout had gone down to the wire.
Their worst shootout ended 4-3 where they missed two penalties against Germany, but after that, a 4-2 win against Spain, a 7-6 loss to Germany and a 6-5 loss to Argentina suggested that converting wasn’t the issue at all.
The first penalty was to be taken by David Beckham, set-piece specialist. Free-kick mastermind, the man who had dragged England to the 2002 World Cup.
Beckham had missed against Turkey in qualification, and missed the earlier penalty against France which would have secured a 2-goal lead had he scored it.
If that had gone in, England would have faced Greece instead. They would of course go on to win the whole tournament, but Greece would have been fancied over Portugal.
Portugal’s Deco had converted his first, and England needed a reply.
Beckham’s penalty would prove to be one of the worst in Euro history, the ball sailing high and wide in an attempt so bad it’s genuinely impressive.
Beckham wasn’t all to blame though. Clearly, something was off, as immediately after the pen he turned in incredulity at the ref, pointing to the spot.
Portuguese goalkeeper, Ricardo, would later suggest Beckham had every right to be annoyed.
“At the moment he kicked, the foot he had on the ground lifted a piece of the grass, which was enough to alter his balance and change the trajectory of the ball.”
The pitch was in a poor state.
But then again, 11 other penalty-takers managed to score.
Sudden Death
After Owen converted, Rui Costa would thrash his penalty wide, giving England a chance to draw level. Lampard duly took that chance, as English hope was restored.
The cheekiest penalty of the night came when it mattered most. With 4 penalties taken, Helder Postiga stepped up to take Portugal’s 5th.
With a pressure penalty, needing to score to put the pressure back on England, Postiga made James look a fool as he chipped it straight down the middle.
Deco was in hysterics back on the halfway line, mouth wide open in disbelief and mirth.
But, as Ashley Cole converted in response to send the shootout to sudden death, James’ blushes were spared.
The next two penalties however were simply remarkable. I can say with a pretty high degree of certainty such scenes have never occurred in another professional football tournament, let alone at a major international tournament with all of Europe watching.
As Darius Vassell stepped up to take the 6th penalty, the Portuguese goalkeeper, Ricardo, took off his gloves.
The Mind-Game of the Century
This should be a considerable disadvantage. His hands’ surface area now significantly smaller, his finger strength weaker. Anyone who has played in goal without gloves will attest to the added difficulty it provides.
Ricardo had gone and attempted the greatest mind game in the history of penalty shootouts.
I’m sure you can already guess what happened.
Vassell’s shot was weak, down low to Ricardo’s left.
He guessed correctly, quite literally palming the ball wide.
Ricardo had some balls on him, that’s for sure. If it had gone wrong he’d forever be a villain, a joke in football history, but his confidence and bravado clearly got to Vassell.
It was genius…
But the mind games were only halfway finished.
The Mind-Game of the Millenium!
Guess who stepped up next to take the all-important penalty?
Yeah… Ricardo did…
There were another 4 outfield penalty-takers ahead of him. But, Ricardo having just pulled off the penalty shoot-out moment of the decade, was about to turn into the moment of the Millenium.
By this point, Ricardo’s confidence couldn’t be contained. With conviction in his eyes, he stared down a David James that looked genuinely shaken by the cojones on this man.
There was no question about it.
Ricardo drilled the ball to James’ right.
The English keeper even guessed the right way, but it was too much.
Ricardo became a national hero in an instant, and England once again suffered the ignominy of defeat on penalties.
There was one upside, however.
It couldn’t get any worse…
