Former Ghana and Asante Kotoko player, Frimpong Manso has revealed that, scoring a penalty doesn’t depend on luck but rather high confidence level and good technique.
According to Frimpong-Manso, players always miss penalties mainly because their confidence level is low, which is a result of the negative thoughts running through their minds before they go for the kick.
He made these assertions after Ghana’s Black Meteors suffered a setback after a penalty shoot-out defeat to Cote d’Ivoire in the semi-final of the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations in Egypt.
Ghana lost 3-2 on penalties to Cote d’Ivoire.
Speaking to Ohene Bampoe-Brenya on Happy FM‘s Anopa Bosuo Sports, Coach Frimpong implored the players to work on their confidence.
“Penalty taking goes with confidence so as a player if you are a good penalty taker and you don’t have that confidence, you will miss it. Players should practice on their own if you really want to be taking penalties. They can get a goalkeeper before or after training and be practicing because scoring penalties doesn’t depend on luck,” he revealed.
He further disclosed that the negativity and insults players get when they miss penalties affect them a lot.
“I think our Ghanaian players are scared of what will happen to them if they miss a penalty. If you are afraid of missing a penalty before taking that penalty, you can’t score because you are not confident and focused,” he stated.
He concluded that “the moment you start thinking about what will happen to you if you miss the penalty then your confidence level will drop drastically. The technique of taking a penalty is crucial but it can be practiced. The confidence of a player to score is different because the more you score, the higher your confidence level but when you miss a penalty then everything drops.”
Ghana has another chance to earn a ticket to the Olympic Games when they come up against South Africa in the third-place playoff on Friday, 22 November at the Cairo International Stadium.
By: Ayishatu Zakaria Ali
