Penalty Shootout

About Penalty Shootout

A penalty shootout against the computer, five kicks each and then sudden death. Take your penalties with a swipe (place it, bend it, blast it) and then pull on the gloves and try to save theirs. The computer watches how you play: shoot to the same corner every time and its keeper will be waiting there.

Also called: penalty kick game, soccer penalty game, football penalty.

How to play Penalty Shootout

1. Your kick: swipe from the ball toward the goal. Where the swipe ends is where the ball goes: side to side and high or low. End it on the goal where you want to score.
2. The speed of the swipe is the power. A harder shot gets there faster, so the keeper has less time, but hit it too hard and it can fly off target.
3. A swipe that bends curls the ball the same way. A curling shot is harder for the keeper to read.
4. On a computer you can also aim with the arrow keys and press Space for a steady, straight kick.
5. In goal: tap (or swipe to) the spot you want to dive to. When you tap is when your keeper goes. Wait too long and he can't get there in time; go before the kick and the kicker may see you and put it the other way. On a keyboard: ← or → to dive (hold Shift to dive high), ↑ for high in the middle, ↓ for low, Space to stay big in the middle.
6. Pick the computer's level under the pitch: Easy, Normal or Hard. Changing it starts a new shootout.

Rules

• You and the computer take turns, you first. Each side takes five kicks.
• The side with more goals after five kicks each wins. The shootout stops early as soon as one side can't be caught, for example 3–0 after three kicks each.
• If it is level after five each, it goes to sudden death: one kick each at a time, and as soon as one side scores and the other doesn't (in the same round), it is over.
• A kick counts as a goal only if it crosses the line between the posts and under the bar. Shots that hit the post or bar and bounce out, go wide, go over or are saved all count as misses. A ball that clips the inside of the post or bar can still go in.
• The keeper can reach much further low and in the middle than up in the top corners. A well-placed shot high in a corner is almost impossible to save, but it is also the easiest to miss.
• The computer remembers which side you shoot to and which way you dive, and uses it. On Easy it barely notices; on Hard it counts on it, reacts faster, and punishes an early dive.

Penalty Shootout tips and strategy

• Mix it up. The computer keeper learns your favourite corner. Go left, left, then right.
• Low and hard beats high and wild. A firm shot just inside the post at knee height is the percentage penalty. Full power risks it flying over.
• Curl it away from the keeper's eye. On Normal and Hard the keeper sometimes waits and reacts to the ball's first few metres. A curling shot starts one way and ends another, which fools him.
• In goal, time it. Commit just as the kicker strikes the ball. Too early and a sharp kicker will see you; too late and the ball is already past you.
• Watch for the computer's habits too. On Easy, most kicks are aimed well inside the posts, so staying central and diving late works surprisingly well.