Can Physics Help Players Be Smarter With Penalty Kicks?

Euro 2016 is around the corner, and with international tournaments comes the real possibility of England getting knocked out in a penalty shootout. In the 1990 World Cup semi-final, they lost to Argentina. Then in Euro 1996, again in the semi-final, they were defeated by the Germans on penalties. The English team has not made it to a semi-final of a major tournament since, mostly because they lost to penalties against Argentina in the 1998 world cup, then to Portugal in Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup, and finally Italy in Euro 2012. That’s quite a dismal run.

A group of physics students at the University of Leicester have taken it upon themselves to lift England’s curse when it comes to…