Question:
PARIS, June 10 (AFP) - Science has provided an invaluable pointer to goalkeepers terrified by the prospect of the penalty shootout.
Researchers at Liverpool John Moores University say a penalty-taker's hips give the best indicator as to where he will place the ball.
In the last moment before the kick, the orientation of his hips will betray the intended direction of the ball, which should give the keeper a vital half-second in which to move to block the shot.
"If the taker's hips are square-on to the goalkeeper in a right-footed kicker, the penalty goes to the right-hand side of the keeper," says Mark Williams, a doctor of sports science.
"If his hips are more 'open', or angled away from the goalkeeper, the kick tends to go to the left of the keeper."
In research conducted ahead of the Euro 2000 tournament, Williams showed goalkeepers life-sized video footage of penalties being taken, filmed from the viewpoint of a keeper standing in the centre of the goal.
The film was stopped four times during the sequence -- 120 milliseconds before the kick; 40 milliseconds before; at the point of impact; and 40 milliseconds afterwards -- and the goalkeepers were asked at each stage to predict where the ball was being placed.
They also filled out questionnaires asking them what they looked out for.
The hips were the best indicator, but "the angle of the runup, the orientation of the non-kicking foot, the orientation of the lower leg and the lean of the trunk were all important," Williams told the British weekly New Scientist.
After the group phase of the World Cup, which finishes on Friday, matches will be decided by penalty shootouts if there is no victory after 120 minutes' play -- 90 minutes of regular time plus 30 minutes of extra time.

Answer:

PARIS, June 10 (AFP) - Science has provided an invaluable pointer to goalkeepers terrified by the prospect of the penalty shootout.
Researchers at Liverpool John Moores University say a penalty-taker's hips give the best indicator as to where he will place the ball.
In the last moment before the kick, the orientation of his hips will betray the intended direction of the ball, which should give the keeper a vital half-second in which to move to block the shot.
"If the taker's hips are square-on to the goalkeeper in a right-footed kicker, the penalty goes to the right-hand side of the keeper," says Mark Williams, a doctor of sports science.
"If his hips are more 'open', or angled away from the goalkeeper, the kick tends to go to the left of the keeper."
In research conducted ahead of the Euro 2000 tournament, Williams showed goalkeepers life-sized video footage of penalties being taken, filmed from the viewpoint of a keeper standing in the centre of the goal.
The film was stopped four times during the sequence -- 120 milliseconds before the kick; 40 milliseconds before; at the point of impact; and 40 milliseconds afterwards -- and the goalkeepers were asked at each stage to predict where the ball was being placed.
They also filled out questionnaires asking them what they looked out for.
The hips were the best indicator, but "the angle of the runup, the orientation of the non-kicking foot, the orientation of the lower leg and the lean of the trunk were all important," Williams told the British weekly New Scientist.
After the group phase of the World Cup, which finishes on Friday, matches will be decided by penalty shootouts if there is no victory after 120 minutes' play -- 90 minutes of regular time plus 30 minutes of extra time.