How Ireland paid the penalty in 2002

Gaizka Mendieta is the man who broke Irish hearts at the the 2002 World Cup, his spot-kick in a penalty shoot-out bringing to an end a marathon battle in Suwon, South Korea.

If Mendieta’s effort proved decisive for Spain, it was only by a matter of inches, his shot passing perilously close to the diving Shay Given. Not that it was a miskick, the player insists today.

“No, no, it was the way I took penalties,” he says. “I used to look at the goalkeepers. They usually move earlier than you kick.