SAN JOSE, Calif. \u2014 <\/strong>Malik Tillman likes watching penalty shootouts. But participating in them? Not so much.<\/p>\n “I try to avoid it,” the American midfielder said before training on Tuesday. “Everyone tries to avoid it. But sometimes, it happens, and, of course, you have to be ready for it because you never know. We\u2019ll give our best to finish the game in 90 minutes.<\/p>\n The U.S. men’s national team faces Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32 at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium on Wednesday night. With the 2026 World Cup now in the knockout stage, any match that remains tied after regulation and extra time comes down to one thing: the dreaded, stomach-churning penalty shootout.<\/p>\n On Monday, Germany and the Netherlands were both sent home after cruel and dramatic penalty shootout losses to Paraguay and Morocco, respectively. Across the two shootouts, players missed 10 penalty kicks, setting a World Cup record for the most misses in a single day. It was the first time in history the four-time champion Germans left the World Cup via penalties.<\/p>\n It was a stark reminder of the stakes now facing the U.S. because, in the knockout stage, one mistake can send a team home.<\/p>\n “We\u2019ve seen two big boys fall,” defender Chris Richards told a group of reporters. “So it\u2019s just a matter of us getting through this game and putting on a good performance, and, hopefully, we continue that.”<\/p>\n The last time the USA found itself in a penalty shootout was exactly one year ago, when it beat Costa Rica in the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup quarterfinals after a six-round thriller. The win came largely thanks to Matt Freese\u2019s heroics in goal, as he made three saves to send the squad through.<\/p>\n Tillman, who missed a penalty in the first half of that match, bounced back by converting in the shootout. He said that while players can practice penalties all they want, it\u2019s “impossible” to replicate what it actually feels like in that spotlight.<\/p>\n U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino agrees and said the team uses an outside company to help with penalties in a somewhat similar fashion to how they use TrackMan technology to aid in set pieces.<\/p>\n “I don’t want to say too much,” Pochettino said at his press conference on Tuesday. “As a coaching staff, we believe that we can provide some tools to the players to be better or to improve or to try to find the best way to face this type of situation, knowing that it’s impossible to replicate the emotional stress and the pressure and expectation, how you are going to feel.<\/p>\n “Because it depends on your performance \u2013 if you came from the bench, if you played 120 minutes, if you are tired, if you are not tired. If you feel something in your body, that is impossible when you practice penalties to have the same feeling.”<\/p>\n As far as the penalty kicking order goes, that is set by Pochettino and his staff, who analyze the players\u2019 work in training before deciding who steps up.<\/p>\n “It is going to be [the coaching staff\u2019s] decision \u2013 the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 5,” Pochettino said. “We are trying to arrive at this moment and not ask the player if they feel confident or not confident.”<\/p>\n Malik Tillman and the art of the penalty. (Photo by Omar Vega\/USSF\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n According to a German media report, there was controversy over who would take Germany\u2019s sixth penalty, as some players didn\u2019t want to. Ultimately, it was Jonathan Tah, whose miss proved decisive and allowed Paraguay to convert and advance.<\/p>\n “I don\u2019t know about that situation, but yeah, it\u2019s a difficult thing,” star forward Christian Pulisic said when asked about Germany\u2019s exit. “The guys who feel the most confident to go up and shoot will want to go shoot. I think that\u2019s normal. There will be some players that maybe don\u2019t practice them as much and don\u2019t feel as good. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s necessarily a big problem.<\/p>\n “Haven\u2019t been in many shootouts with these guys, but I feel like it\u2019s a pretty brave, courageous team. I feel like guys will give it a go.”<\/p>\n Penalty kick style and technique have evolved over the years. Some players opt for stutter steps and elaborate long or short run-ups, while others simply place the ball and strike it.<\/p>\n Tillman said he\u2019s experimented with different approaches throughout his career and doesn\u2019t necessarily take them the same way he once did. Still, he added, “I\u2019m confident in the way I take them.”<\/p>\n Richards, who scored a penalty for Premier League club Crystal Palace last season, doesn\u2019t overthink it.<\/p>\n “I don\u2019t want to give away too much,” Richards said with a big smile. “Some guys change it up. Me personally, I\u2019m a defender for a reason, so I\u2019m gonna put it down and place it where I think it needs to go.”<\/p>\n Chris Richards and Matt Freese were part of the USA’s penalties against Costa Rica at the 2025 Gold Cup. (Photo by Carlos Gonzalez\/ISI Photos\/USSF\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY SAN JOSE, Calif. \u2014 Malik Tillman likes watching penalty shootouts. But participating in them? Not so much. “I try to avoid it,” the American midfielder said before training on Tuesday. “Everyone tries to avoid it. But sometimes, it happens, and, of course, you have to be ready for it because you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5860,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5861\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}