Spanish defender Sergio Ramos has admitted that the chipped penalty he scored against Portugal was a deliberate one in order to gain the mental advantage in the penalty shootout. Portugal are taking on Spain in the first semi-final knowing that the winner could face the Germany or Italy in the final of the competition.
Spain were certainly the favourites to win the tie after they have been finding their feet in the competition of late. Cristiano Ronaldo was an excellent from for Portugal, but both sides were extremely disappointing in the 90 min. After the 0-0 draw with Portugal, the match went into penalties.
In the quarter-final match between Italy and England, the Juventus midfielder Andrea Pirlo attempted an audacious chipped penalty in the game when Italy were trailing in the penalty shootout. This gave the Italian’s the edge mentally and they never looked back since then. They defeated England on penalties. Sergio Ramos has admitted that he used the tactics deliberately against Portugal. It seemed to work after Portugal defender Bruno Alves hit the bar following the penalty taken by Sergio Ramos. Spain then went on to win the match on penalty shootout, which puts them into the final of the competition.
“I’d planned it in advance, I won’t lie. After my last experience with penalties with Real Madrid in the Champions League, people said I wasn’t ready for the responsibility of taking a penalty. But I had confidence in myself and I wanted to try again. It was a risk, of course, but I had seen how the goalkeeper moved and I was pretty sure he would go one way or the other. It was lucky, but it was great for me,” said Ramos after the match. The Real Madrid defender was later given the man of the match award for his extraordinary performance in the match.