For those who follow 101 Great Goals this clip is nothing new, but this goal from Ezequiel Calvente deserves some more attention if for no other reason than it features somebody bringing some imagination to the too-often-mundane process of penalty kicks.
Wrong-Footed Penalties The Next Spain Innovation
Granted, we’re only a month removed from Sebastian Abreu’s audacious goal against Ghana, but his chip to beat Richard Kingson was more beguiling than original. Calvente, a winger for Spain at the ongoing U-19 European Championships, combined audacity with originality for what looks like an intentional wrong-footed goal.
Check out the chance, which came in the 57th minute of Spain’s Saturday match with Italy:
Calvente, who plays his club soccer at Spain’s Real Betis, was taken down to the left of goal by Alessandro Crescenzi. Selected to take the ensuing kick, Calvente lined-up back-left of the ball - how a player would line-up if intent on shooting with his right foot. Calvente ran onto the ball and, at the moment before the kick, planted his right foot outside the ball, opening his left foot onto the shot as goalkeeper Simone Colombi was sent the wrong way.
An ancillary note: The goal put Spain up 3-0 early in the second half, with the team using the eventual victory to win the tournament’s Group B. Spain has three wins in as many matches, has scored seven goals to their opponents’ two, and will meet England in the semifinals on Tuesday.
Hosts France face Croatia in the other semifinal.
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