The roar of 90,000 soccer fans washed over Aurélien Tchouaméni. He was a midfielder on the French national soccer team. After placing the ball on the penalty spot, he tried to steady himself for the biggest kick of his life.
France and Argentina had battled to a 3-3 tie in the 2022 World Cup final. The winner would be decided by a penalty kick shoot-out. The side scoring the most during their five shooting attempts would win.
The teams took turns sending a player to the penalty spot. It was just 11 meters (12 yards) from the opposing goalkeeper.
When Tchouaméni’s turn came up, France was already down two goals to one in the shoot-out. A two-goal shoot-out deficit would be a disaster for France. Tchouaméni stared at the Argentinian goalkeeper, then waited. At the referee’s whistle, he took a deep breath, then ran up and kicked.
And he missed, wide left.
France would go on to lose the shoot-out and the title of World Cup champion.
Some 1.4 billion people watched that game. Few understood the penalty kick drama better than Geir Jordet. A psychologist, he works at the Norwegian School of Sp...
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