Carranza Trophy invented the penalty shootouts

Last update 5 November, 2020 by Alberto Llopis

When and how was the penalty shootout invented? It is said of the English who invented football; of the French who created the main international competitions. But perhaps what many do not know is that the penalty shoot-out was invented in Cádiz, during the Carranza Trophy of 1962 and was created in a totally casual and haphazard.

The Carranza Trophy invented the penalty shootout

For a long time, it was customary to repeat the match if it ended in a draw, in the image and likeness of what still happens in the FA with tiebreakers. However, the final of the Cadiz summer tournament that faced Zaragoza and Barcelona was going to mean a before and after in the way of proceeding to undo the ties. After finishing the match with a draw 0, the manager of the Cadiz club who was the host of the tournament, Rafael Ballester Sierra was going to propose to execute five launches from the fatal point in a row in order to shorten the duration of the tournament and give it a prompt resolution.

And I said and done. After receiving the referee's approval, captains and delegates it was going to be Zaragoza who started the batch. The hands scored 3 of the 5 shots. The Catalans were going to show the same effectiveness in their pitching turn. At this point with a tie again, it was decided to carry out a new round of penalties also at 5 who finally awarded the trophy to Barcelona.

Years later, FIFA and UEFA would adopt this system for playoffs in major tournaments. The first major title decided by penalty shootouts was the European Championship 1976, in which Czechoslovakia was imposed on Germany with the well-known Penalti de Doll.