Where Football Meets Psychology: What the Mind Coach Taught Cristiano Ronaldo

Whether you like it or not, you have to admit that Cristiano Ronaldo is a cool customer when it comes to taking a penalty.

Of course he hasn't always been like that, but clearly the Manchester United psychologists (come on, what Premier League teams don't have psychologists these days?) have been working hard, and have transformed a shy Sporting Lisbon boy into a global superstar that exonerates confidence when he steps up to take that make-or-break, decisive last penalty.

And now in this article, I will show you how Cristiano Ronaldo, Francesco Totti, Zinedine Zidane, et al, have remained so calm when stepping to take that vital spot-kick in the UEFA Champions League Final, in the FIFA World Cup Final, in the Carling Cup Final, etc.

Of course it is very stressful when you step up, waiting to take the last penalty in the shootout that you need to score to keep your team in it, with the hundreds of millions around the world watching, waiting, anticipating, expecting. It can feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders.

Some players aren't taught well enough, and crumble under the pressure—a la John Terry, where Chelsea skipper "gifted" Manchester United a vital lifeline in the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final in Moscow.

Others, like Ronaldo, can handle the stress, and although he doesn't score every time, it is clear that the 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year exonerates sheer confidence when he steps up to take that spot-kick before the eyes of the world.

The Portuguese winger, unlike Terry, has been taught well the Stress Inoculation Therapy (SIT), which involves three stages:

1. Conceptualisation: This is where the person identifies stressors (sources of stress), what their typical response to the stressor would be, and the success of this response. Where football players fail so many times with stressors such as penalties, is due to that old cliché, self-defeating dialogue.
2. Skills Acquisition and Rehearsal: This is where the mind coach (psychologist) helps the person develop and practice positive coping statements, with techniques such as relaxation and making a realistic appraisal also being practised.
3. Application and Follow Through: This is the final stage, where the person applies the newly acquired skills from before to progressively more difficult situations in the real world.

So the psychologists at Manchester United would work hard with players like Cristiano Ronaldo, making sure they can use this stress therapy perfectly, which eventually will eradicate those jitters and make sure the player can deliver that perfect, vital spot-kick when it matters most.

Here is an example of how the SIT is put into use by sports psychologists:

Scenario:

Manchester United are in Moscow days before the biggest match in world club football, the UEFA Champions League Final.

Important penalty-takers chosen by the gaffer, i.e Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Anderson, Carlos Tevez, etc, are found out to hate the idea of taking a penalty. They keep telling the coaches, "I can't take a penalty, I feel too nervous. My legs just turn to jelly."

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