3 July 2006, by Tom Kundert

Penalty hero Ricardo: “I saw the goal shrinking in the English players’ eyes”

Portugal goalkeeper Ricardo continued to lap up the plaudits the day after his magnificent effort in the penalty shoot-out against England earned his team a place in the World Cup semi-finals.

For all the criticism levelled at England’s players in the shoot-out by the English press, the fact of the matter is that all four of their penalty takers produced reasonable spot kicks.

But the Sporting number one produced three superb diving stops from Lampard, Gerrard and Carragher to spark massive nationwide celebrations.

“Over the last few days we have worked hard on penalties, trying to annul the big advantage of the player who takes the spot kick in relation to the player who defends it,” said Ricardo.

“I’d like to thank my goalkeeping team-mates and especially Brassard [the national team goalkeeper coach] who has helped me greatly and done a spectacular job. I’d also like to thank everyone who’s worked with me at Sporting.”

“It’s a very special moment. No matter what we know about how a certain player takes penalties, it’s that moment that counts. No matter how many videos you watch, the decision at the time of the penalty is always a special moment.”

Psychological battle

“The penalty taker may know that I know which side he’s going to shoot, and I know that he knows that I know! So the decision at the moment is what counts.”

Ricardo also revealed that he detected the nervousness of the English as they prepared to take their penalty kicks.

“I saw in their eyes that they were nervous. The net was shrinking for them, and my job was to prolong their suffering. Luckily I managed to.”