Carli Lloyd Shares The Biggest Challenge With Taking Penalties: ‘It’s Not The Keeper’

“I don’t like the term luck. And that’s why I said you create your own luck. You have the opportunities that come your way. You capitalize, and you use them to your advantage.”

Wise words from U.S. women’s national team legend Carli Lloyd on “Alexi Lalas’ State of the Union Podcast” about one of soccer’s biggest challenges: taking a penalty.

It’s only 12 yards between glory and certain heartbreak, but it can feel like a mile away. It requires that combination of skill, a bit of luck, and plenty of mental toughness.

Penalties were a hot topic at the Women’s Euro. England needed them to beat Sweden in the quarterfinals and then Spain in Sunday’s final. Across the entire tournament, the penalty conversion rate across the tournament was just 55% (28 scored, 51 taken), the lowest on record at either a Women’s Euro or FIFA Women’s World Cup (since 2011).

Which is why Lloyd praised England’s Chloe Kelly, who scored the decisive penalty against Spain.

“She said she knew she was going to make it. And for me, that’s telling,” Lloyd said. “When you step up and you’re confident in making a penalty.”

Lloyd further explained what it took to improve her own penalty-taking skills, spurred by the USWNT falling in the 2011 World Cup final against Japan. And while the U.S. were successful against Brazil in that quarterfinal, PKs ultimately doomed them in the fateful final in Frankfurt.

“I practiced penalties here and there. We would prepare as a team. It was definitely something that we took pride in. We all made ours at that point,” Lloyd said.

“[In the final], Shannon Boxx was first and she missed. So suddenly you start to think, ‘Oh boy, she missed.’ I step up, I miss. I sailed mine so far over the bar. Tobin Heath misses and then Abby [Wambach] eventually made hers [before Japan won].

“And at that moment, I said to myself: I need to prepare more for penalties because I wasn’t prepared. I don’t normally take them, so I made a conscious effort after training sessions to just hit penalties all the time, 10 a day after training sessions.”

At the 2015 Women’s World Cup, Lloyd then applied that routine on the way to the title – especially in the round of 16 win over Colombia in which the U.S. initially missed a first-half penalty.

“We get one a few minutes later and [Wambach] gets up and hands me the ball and I’m like, ‘Okay, I’ll take it.’ I step up, I make it, and then I have to take another one in the semifinal against Germany. That was at a really, really crucial moment and I made that. I was focused, and it all came down to my preparation.”

That may be the biggest lesson when you’re staring down a goalkeeper as you try to anticipate their moves and tendencies before that shot.

“It was such a mind game and I think that’s the biggest battle,” Lloyd said. “It’s not the keeper, it’s between your own ears and what you’re thinking. Positive self-talk, your routine and your preparation.”