Penalty kicks are all in the mind

Hunter9 submitted, created time 1 year 11 months (www.nature.com)

On a summer evening last year, more than a billion pairs of eyes were fixed on footballer David Tr¨|z¨|guetas he stepped up to take his penalty for France in the shootout against Italy to decide the world championship. A supremely talented goal-scorer, he inexplicably crashed his kick against the crossbar. France lost.

Fast-forward sixmonths, and psychologists say they have explained why: the pressure got to him

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