Irwin: Confidence Is The Key To Scoring Penalties

It takes one to know one... Denis Irwin proved the old adage correct when he recently tipped Juan Mata as a potential penalty taker for Manchester United.

The Spaniard duly delivered with the crucial opening goal against Crystal Palace, converting his first spot-kick for the club in a cool and clinical manner reminiscent of Irwin's own style. But what does it take to find the net from 12 yards in an often high-pressure situation? We asked Denis to share his penalty expertise, as he prepares to play at Old Trafford again in next month's legends match against Bayern Munich...

What do you look for in a good penalty taker?
For me, it's whoever feels the most confident in the dressing room really. You can practice penalties all you want, take them in training and all that, but it’s a totally different kettle of fish when you're in a match situation. The main thing is to be confident. If you’ve got confidence in yourself, you’ve got a good chance of scoring.

How did you acquire the role at United?
It took a while - I never took any penalties for Oldham, my previous club, and when I came to United in 1990, Steve Bruce was the regular penalty taker. When he left in 1996, Eric Cantona took over, and then Teddy Sheringham followed him. But Teddy missed his first three so I was asked to take them. I only took penalties regularly for three or four years, believe it or not, but I enjoyed it. I didn’t mind the pressure, although I did miss one - as most players do now and again.

Which spot-kick was the most nerve-wracking?
I'd say it was the one against Southampton in 1995 [10 May]. It was the last home game of the season and we needed to win to keep our title challenge going but the score was still 1-1 when we were awarded a penalty late on. Bruce and Cantona weren't playing so I had to take it. I was really nervous and their goalkeeper was Dave Beasant, who was particularly good at stopping penalties, as we knew from the 1988 FA Cup final [when he denied Liverpool's John Aldridge]. It was a nervous moment, so I was glad to see it hit the back of the net. We won the match 2-1.

What was your secret to taking penalties?
Well, I used to just always favour a particular side of the goal, keep my head down and hit it hard. But then the keepers worked me out, so I had to be flexible and change the way I would go.