[fabsroman]

Mil Dot, the goalie doesn't have a 50-50 change of stopping the ball if the shooter puts the ball in the right place. Taking a penalty kick is usually pretty easy, but sometimes the shooters do screw up. France hit the crossbar and that was all it took. In the 1994 World Cup final, Italy and Brazil were tied 1-1 and went to penalty kicks to decide it. Baggio shot over the crossbar and Italy lost the game.

In this World Cup quarter final between Portugal and England, Portugal's goalie Riccardo got his hand on 4 out of England's 5 shots and he saved 3 of the 5. Defending a penalty kick isn't simply about picking a corner and diving for it, but reading the penalty taker's body language a split second before he strikes the ball. The good goalies can tell which way a shot will be going based upon where the shooter's hips are. However, the good shooters try to keep their hips square so that the goalie cannot read where the shot will go.

I guess you need to understand a little about soccer to be able to enjoy a game. Kind of like my wife and her parents trying to follow the Tour de France with me. They have no idea what is going on, much less who is in first place on the stage and who is in first place in the overall GC classification. To put it into perspective with this board, most people who watch a hunting show have absolutely no idea what is going on and they think these hunters are just shooting birds and animals. They have no idea about all the work that goes into getting that animal. In some cases, they have no idea that the show is being filmed on a game ranch or preserve. Same goes for fishing shows. Most people that do not fish would find a fishing show about as boring as can be.