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科学家探究罚点球的学问

Deadlocked¹ football matches often end in penalty kicks, most recently in Sunday’s World Cup match between Costa Rica and Greece With penalty kicks playing such a key role in the competition, a British scientist advises football teams to look into the science behind them.

目前在巴西举行的世界杯足球赛接连出现以残酷的罚点球决定生死的场景。一位英国科学家说，各球队应当非常认真地探究踢点球的科学。

In the 1994 World Cup, a missed penalty kick by Roberto Baggio dashed the hopes of the Italian team in the final match against Brazil.

战例之一：1994年世界杯决赛，巴乔罚点球未进，意大利队夺杯梦碎，败给了巴西。

Team psychologists and strategists have long studied the emotions of both the kicker and the goalie, trying to find strong and weak points.

球队心理专家和战略专家长期以来一直在研究罚球者和守门员的情绪，试图发现各种利弊。

Ken² Bray³, a sport scientist at the University of Bath, says to be successful the kicker must aim for the area outside the goalkeeper’s maximum reach.

巴斯大学的体育科学专家肯·布雷说，要想成功，踢点球的射手必须瞄准守门员身体所及最大极限之外。

“If you can place the ball outside of his diving envelope you should be successful almost 100 percent of the time,” Bray said.

他说： “如果你能把球踢到他扑救范围之外，你的成功率几乎是百分之百。”

Studies have shown that shots inside the envelope were saved 50 percent of the time, which is the same as flipping⁴ a coin. But shots aimed at the so-called ‘unsavable zone’ were more than 80 percent successful.

研究显示，射在扑救范围之内的球，有一半的时候被救下，这和抛硬币一样。但是，如果射门目标在所谓“无救区”，成功率超过80%。

Bray, who wrote the book, "'How to Score," also says anxiety issues dictate⁵ that the team’s coach should not let his best shooter make the first kick because the less experienced player might have more anxiety.

布雷写过一部题为《如何得分》的书。他还说，由于焦虑问题，球队教练不应让最好的射手率先出阵。

“Less experienced first, more experienced last, produces a better result on average,” Bray said.

“经验较少的人先上，经验较多的最后上，”他说，“平均来说，这样的结果更好一些。”

Goalkeepers also employ their own strategies to distract kickers.

守门员还喜欢分散射手的注意力。

“When the player's walking up, I'll have the ball in my hands before, so then they'll have to come and get it off me, so then as they're walking back, I step out a little bit, so the ref has to tell me to step on my line," said goalkeeper Nick Croucher. "Just get into the players' heads.”

守门员尼克·克劳彻说：“射手走过来时，我会手里拿着球，端在身前，所以他们必须走过来从我这里把球拿走，然后，等他们往回走的时候，我会向前走那么一点，于是裁判就要让我退回到我的线上。这只是为了让射手分心。”

Bray says coaches should not choose penalty kickers on a volunteer basis but rather carefully analyze⁶ which of their players is best suited for the nerve-wracking task.

体育科学专家布雷说，踢点球时，教练不应当按自愿原则派人上阵，而是应当仔细分析每个球员，看看谁最适合承担这项摧残神经的重任。