For every player, it is crucial to fulfill the roles that the head coach has defined. However, during individual matches, there are additional tasks that sometimes need to be fulfilled. One of these tasks is the penalty shootout. In our today’s ranking, we present the players who have often scored from the penalty spot during their career. This indicator reflects not the percentage of realized 11-meter kicks from the total number, but the share of goals scored from the penalty spot in the total number of goals sent into the opponents’ goal for the entire career.
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Robin Van Persie (Netherlands)
The ranking opens the best sniper of the Dutch national team in history, who scored 50 goals for his national team. It’s hard to argue that Robin Van Persie can’t score or often misses chances. He has produced outstanding performances throughout his career with clubs and rightfully deserves his reputation as a benchmark striker.
The low percentage of goals scored from penalties compared to his total number of goals speaks to his high level as a forward, which confirms his professionalism. Van Persie will forever be remembered in Arsenal’s memory as the team’s top goalscorer of the early 2000s. He is keen to realize himself as a coach and is already taking the first steps in that direction. In the meantime, 12% of goals from penalties from the total number of goals in his career will take their place in our ranking.
Lionel Messi (Argentina)
The legendary Argentine, who recently became world champion, reached an impressive figure of twelve. The PSG and Argentina striker is not prone to superstition, so he agrees with this mark. To list Messi’s achievements would be naive, because even those who are not interested in football perfectly know who he is.
He is far ahead of other Barcelona legends in terms of performance, and in the foreseeable future no one will be able to come close to his records set by his own efforts. Lionel has another three or four years to spend brightly. In that time, his tally of 13 will clearly change, and the likelihood of that number increasing is very high.
Wayne Rooney (England)
The England striker is well acquainted with the realities of taking penalties. However, it is only a welcome addition to his illustrious career in the English Premier League. For nearly 20 years, Rooney has been a player who has evolved with the English Championship, starting at Everton and continuing at Manchester United.
He is considered overrated by some, which occasionally leads to criticism of him. However, this argument is questionable, as Sir Alex Ferguson himself wanted him in his team and he knew exactly which players were suitable for his club.
After his move to the Red Devils, Wayne quickly adapted to the demands of a club that was constantly challenging for titles. Throughout his career, Rooney showed versatility on the pitch and had no trouble taking responsibility for penalty kicks. Although he had his misses, he always headed balls towards the opposition goal with good speed.
Edinson Cavani (Uruguay)
‘El Matador’ didn’t start his brilliant career with much confidence. He was playing in his homeland, and not many people noticed him in Europe. However, soon attention to Cavani was shown in Italy, and he left Uruguayan ‘Danubio’, signing a contract with Italian ‘Palermo’. After four successful years at the Sicilian club, Edinson was given the opportunity to move to Napoli, who were gradually becoming a strong Italian team.
In ‘Napoli’ Cavani came in handy and began to improve his skills as a striker. He was quite good at it, including 11-meter kicks. However, the real skill he demonstrated was playing for PSG. In the Parisian club, Uruguayan felt like a star and deservedly received applause from local fans. During his appearances for the Parisian team, he scored 200 goals, a significant part of which came on penalties. The only thing that frustrates Edinson is the fact that he will soon be surpassed by Mbappe in the number of goals in the list of PSG snipers.
Ruud Van Nistelrooy (Netherlands)
At the turn of the century, Ruud Van Nistelrooy became a real goal scoring machine. Despite the presence of players like Patrick Kluivert and Roy Mackay in the Dutch national team, their effectiveness was no match for that of the Dutch striker. His versatility caught the eye of Sir Alex Ferguson, and at Manchester United he formed a near-perfect link-up with David Beckham.
Van Nistelrooy had outstanding football sense and always knew when and where to be on the pitch. His ability to score goals against opponents was simply phenomenal. However, in the career of the Dutchman was an unpleasant episode – he tore cruciate ligaments of the knee and could not return to the previous level. Ruud was a masterful penalty taker, delivering powerful strikes that often hit the goal. Sometimes his decisions were so subtle and original that even the most creative strikers of the time could not have thought of it.
