As a nation I can't think of a single thing we get wrong on a more frequent basis than penalty kicks. England have become experts in the most heart-breaking way to be eliminated from a World Cup event, and have been knocked out of a devastating six major tournaments via the penalty shoot-out format in the last twenty four years which is not good for the health. In 1998 we were fighting the odds for a huge section of the game, thanks to David Beckham petulantly kicking out at Diego Simeone in retaliation to being fouled by the Argentine actions that would perhaps go unnoticed in a Manchester United shirt, saw golden balls earn a red card while representing England. Regardless of the heavy disadvantage of having ten men, Glenn Hoddles side managed to dig deep and hold onto a 2-2 draw, ensuring that the game would conclude over a penalty shoot-out. Missed penalties from defensive midfield duo Paul Ince and David Batty saw that England would not advance on to the quarter final stage of the competition, and once again fans were left crying into their beer mats. A small silver lining to come from the game was the performance of wonder-kid Michael Owen, who scored a sensational goal that gave England an early 2-1 lead.
A wrestling enthusiast, currently educating the youth of Taiwan English; there are now a bunch of Asian kids running around with Yorkshire accents. Read about that trip and others at dragonstravel.com.
