The Violets' Penalty Secrets

Against Beitar, then almost everyone

Two years later, it's back to a penalty shootout. After the 2-1 first-leg win against Beitar Jerusalem, the second leg stands at 1-2 after extra time. Match report >>>

Helm enters the pitch to select his shooters. And this time, everything is different.

"Ten players came up to me, all signalling that they wanted to shoot," he rejoices. Sanel Saljic raises his hand, Vasilije Markovic actively approaches the coach.

No Penalty Training

A penalty shootout wasn't a major topic beforehand. "I didn't concern myself with it. In the 113th minute, I told Wegi (Note: Assistant Christian Wegleitner) to think about what the list might look like," the FAK coach reveals.

There was no extra training beforehand. Only on matchday did some players try shooting penalties. "I shot two during activation, others did too," says Fischer.

"Wenn er den runterfängt, bist du der Depp der Nation"

Manfred Fischer verwarf den Plan, in die Mitte zu schießen

The captain opened the penalty shootout. He had already discarded his original plan: "Actually, I wanted to shoot down the middle, but then I thought: You can't do that; if he stays put and catches the ball, you'll be the fool of the nation."

Thoughts on the Way to the Spot

What did he think as he walked to the spot? "I have the opportunity to shoot a penalty in front of all of Austria, what could be better?" the Styrian describes his thoughts.

Completely different were the thoughts of Sanel Saljic, whose penalty then secured the decision. What did he think? "Nothing. I was completely relaxed, I knew which corner I was going to shoot into," he grins.

Radlinger's Mental Tricks

test — Der FAK-Goalie parierte einen Elfer
Foto: ©GEPA

And then there was Samuel Sahin-Radlinger. The FAK goalie saved a penalty. "I'm happy about that, but we had 17 match-winners today," he says, not wanting to attach too much importance to it.

But he and goalkeeping coach Udo Siebenhandl had often talked about penalties: "Against LASK, I finally saved a penalty again (Note: shooter Usor then scored on the rebound); unfortunately, it hadn't worked for a long time before that – that was a topic."

And the penalty shootout? "It was a mental thing. I went into the shootout with a positive mindset, visualizing the celebration images in my head, and it worked. When the shooter is ready, it's autopilot; I'm in my movement sequence, just deciding on a corner," the goalie reveals.