‘Cheat sheets' in penalty shootouts: What's on them, how 'keepers make theirs and why they can be controversial

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16 hours ago

As Alexis Mac Allister stepped up to take Liverpool's second penalty of the Community Shield shootout on Sunday, Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson lingered by the post, water bottle in hand. His eyes flicked between Mac Allister, the referee, and the list of shooters taped to the bottle he was holding.
Moments earlier, Mohamed Salah had blazed his attempt over the crossbar and Jean-Philippe Mateta had scored to give Palace the advantage. A save now could be decisive. Henderson glanced once more at his cheat sheet.
Beside Mac Allister's name, it read simply: 'L (left).'
Mac Allister approached slowly, head down, avoiding the goalkeeper's gaze. Henderson waited, reading the rhythm of the run-up, holding his nerve until the last possible moment. Then, just as the Argentinian planted his non-kicking foot, he lunged left, diving low and strong to push the ball around the post.
Mac Allister froze in disbelief. Henderson sprang to his feet, ripped off the cap he was using to shield his eyes from the sun and gave a theatrical double tip toward the celebrating Palace fans at the other end of the stadium — the very picture of a 'keeper who had done his homework and was revelling in the rewards.
Henderson also denied Harvey Elliott, helping Palace to a 3-2 shootout win for their second trophy in a matter of months. In May, they beat Manchester City 1-0 in the FA Cup final, another day when Henderson proved decisive at a spot kick, diving low to his right to deny Omar Marmoush what would have been an equaliser shortly before half-time.
Two weeks before Sunday's drama at Wembley, another England goalkeeper, Hannah Hampton, taped some notes inside her left sleeve; detailed references on Spain's likely penalty takers in the final of the Women's European Championship, built from scouting reports and statistical analysis. Yet, this time, it wasn't just her list that became the talking point, but also the notes from Spanish counterpart Cata Coll, who had details on England's potential takers plastered to her water bottle.
Hampton has claimed since the match that she threw her opponent's notes — and the bottle they were stuck to — into the crowd after spotting it sitting by the goal. 'I wasn't going to let them have that advantage,' she said. Coll appeared to mock the claim on social media, posting: 'OK, OK, calm down, calm down. At least if it were true…'
The concept of the cheat sheet has been around long enough now to lose its novelty, but at the elite level of the game, it has never been more precise or more public.
Jordan Pickford was spotted during the England men's team's Euro 2024 quarter-final shootout win against Switzerland with a cheat sheet that contained the Swiss players' names, the direction he should dive, and sometimes a brief cue, 'stay' or 'delay'. The idea behind 'delay' is simple: against takers who stutter or watch the 'keeper, holding your position forces them to commit without the early cue they are looking for. By staying balanced and still until the last moment, the goalkeeper still has both sides covered and can even sow doubt in the mind of the taker, increasing the chance of a poor strike.
Pickford saved a pivotal penalty from Manuel Akanji that day, after diving the way his research instructed him. It was enough for the win, and England's men ended up in a second straight Euros final.
By the time Everton faced Manchester City in the Premier League later that year, Pickford's notes had evolved into a far richer dataset (see main photo). Alongside each name sat percentages showing where that player had previously placed their penalties, with a simple colour code — green marking the most likely direction of their shot. Next to Erling Haaland's name was an illustration highlighting how he put his penalties to the right 55 per cent of the time.
Once again, Pickford's cheat sheet proved correct as he went right to keep out Haaland's penalty in the 53rd minute, saving a valuable point for Everton during their fight to avoid relegation.
Though Pickford's two sets of notes were different in style, they did share one common theme: they were basic and clear, stripped down to the essentials. The value in that simplicity shouldn't be underestimated. In a shootout, where heart rate and adrenaline can spike and decision-making windows shrink to a second or less, the clearer the instruction, the easier it is to execute.
Penalty preparation has been steadily building for nearly two decades.
Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann's small slip of paper in his sock during the 2006 World Cup quarter-final shootout against Argentina is often cited as the origin point in the modern game. It contained hand-written notes about Argentina's likely takers and was theatrically consulted before each attempt. Again, the information was simple, but the act was deliberate — a blend of preparation and intimidation. Lehmann would go on to save two of the four Argentina penalties as the tournament's host nation advanced to the semis.
From a coaching perspective, analysing the opponents' penalty history is largely done to provide a series of tactics for your goalkeepers to rely on in a crucial moment when thinking clearly can be one of the hardest things to do under pressure. At its core, a cheat sheet is less about telling you where to dive and more about reducing mental clutter.
In those moments before a penalty is taken, a 'keeper faces sensory overload: crowd noise, the opposing player's body language, the referee's whistle, the internal pressure to make a decisive intervention. A printed cue provides an anchor. Even if the taker changes their mind at the last second, the goalkeeper starts from a position of informed readiness rather than guesswork.
There is also an undeniable psychological layer at play. When a 'keeper pauses to study their bottle or wrist, it is as much theatre as it is preparation. The action broadcasts a message to the taker: 'I already know where you will shoot.' That alone can be enough to trigger hesitation, a subtly altered run-up, or a mistimed strike.
What a goalkeeper includes in these notes ultimately comes down to personal preference. Some want as much data as possible, others prefer a single cue. It's a personal preference how much information a goalkeeper takes with them on the field.
Matt Freese, a goalkeeper for New York City in MLS who did a research project on penalties at Harvard University, told The Athletic that he begins preparing for opponents days in advance. He saved three FC Cincinnati spot kicks in a shootout in last year's MLS Cup play-offs to send his team through, 'I had no cheat sheet, nothing like that,' he says. 'I had all 20 guys on their roster memorised.'
In most conversations I've had with fellow goalkeepers, simpler is better. You want enough to feel prepared, but not so much that you're overloaded when the whistle blows. And if, in the moment, your instincts tell you something different from the notes, go with your gut. In the game's most crucial moments, that feeling is often the correct one. Trust it.
The key is to read the taker's body cues — planted foot, hip alignment, shoulders, stride cadence — and then make a decisive, well-timed move. Combine that with the hours of video studied in preparation, and you have the subtle details that can tip the scales, the details most viewers never notice but goalkeepers live by.
This year, in my role as goalkeeping coach for Swedish club Malmo's under-19s side, I prepared a cheat sheet for the Ligacupen final in Sweden — insurance in case our game with Hammarby went to penalties.
To give our goalkeeper the best chance of feeling secure, we met on the morning of the match, watched every penalty our opponents had taken, and broke down each shooter's tendencies. Together, we decided exactly what he wanted printed on his bottle: name, number, dominant foot, and preferred side. Nothing more. It was designed to be read at a glance, because in a shootout, complexity isn't just unhelpful, it's the enemy of execution.
In the end, we didn't need the cheat sheet. We won 2-0 in normal time to secure our second consecutive cup title, but the exercise became an important reference point. It gave us clarity on how we wanted to scout opposition shooters and the tactics we could trust in the future.
The evolution of these sheets mirrors the broader data revolution in football. What started as instinct and memory has become a blend of video analysis, statistical profiling and behavioural study. Elite clubs and teams now track every competitive penalty an opposing player has taken, building a database that maps preferred sides, shot heights and strike patterns.
For the goalkeeper, the challenge is balancing that information with the reality of the moment. Some players will go against their pattern in a final, others will double down on their comfort zone under pressure. The goalkeeper's job is to read both the data and the person in front of them. That's why Henderson's and Hampton's shootouts were as much about presence as they were about prediction.
As teams search for even the smallest advantage, this trend shows no sign of slowing.
Hampton's tactics highlight that goalkeepers, coaches, and analysts are already exploring alternative ways to store and reference penalty information discreetly. It's not hard to imagine other innovations emerging — a laminated wristband hidden inside a glove or tucked in a sock, or a set of small, colour-coded symbols put on a glove to indicate preferred shooting sides. And while wearable technology, which could send subtle cues by sense of touch, remains off-limits under the Laws of the Game, rapid technological advances mean the possibility lingers in the background.
But as Hampton demonstrated, even the most creative storage method is only part of the battle. The other half is guarding that information and ensuring your opponent never gets the chance to use it against you.
Henderson's and Hampton's moments this summer were, on the surface, just two shootouts. However, they were also snapshots of a broader truth: the penalty is no longer just a duel between taker and 'keeper. It's a contest between preparation models, information security, and psychological nerve.
One goalkeeper displayed his cues; the other ensured hers (and those of her opponent) remained hidden. They both ended up lifting the trophy. In the fine margins of modern football, that may be the ultimate reminder that in a shootout, it's the smallest scrap of information that can tip the balance between glory and defeat.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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