Broadly speaking, goalkeepers have three standard options when facing a penalty – dive right, dive left or stay centre.

Morocco’s Yassine Bounou, on Monday, broke that convention by doing something we rarely see in top-class football.

In the Round of 32 penalty shootout against the Netherlands, against Crysencio Summerville in the decisive fifth kick, Bounou shuffled across to his right, stayed big and high before swatting a rising shot away with his left hand. More handball goalkeeping, rather than football, to be fair.

Despite the unorthodoxy, Bounou’s save set the stage for Ismael Saibari to step up, convert the final penalty, and seal Morocco’s progression.

This marks Morocco’s fourth consecutive shootout win in all competitions and second in the World Cup, following its toppling of Spain in the Round of 16 in 2022.

And it all came down to the power of information and Bounou’s willingness to look foolish by straying from the established norms.

Summerville isn’t a regular with penalties for his country or club (West Ham United). His last competitive spot kick came more than two years ago with Leeds United, where he was a regular and reliable penalty taker.

Right through his senior career, the Dutch winger has stuck by a consistent technique. He starts off in line with the penalty spot and the ‘keeper before side-stepping into a diagonal run-up and shooting to his dominant side.

Across all competitions with Leeds, Summerville had taken seven penalties, scoring six of them. Interestingly, not a single one of them was directed towards his right (goalkeeper’s left) — five to his left and two to the centre.

What is more important is that, of the five to the left, two were high into the roof of the net. It is the sort of penalty that is impossible to save even if the goalkeeper gets the direction right. With a rising trajectory, such shots usually fly over a goalkeeper diving in full stretch.

Summerville’s last competitive spot kick came more than two years ago with Leeds United, where he was a regular and reliable penalty taker.
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This is where Bounou chose to be different. Instead of diving, which would have reduced his chances of saving only low or mid-height shots, he kept himself upright and ready.

The Moroccan ‘keeper had tried out this strategy just a few seconds ago, against Quinten Timber, who too has a penchant for shooting high, but across his body. For the fourth Dutch kick, Bounou jumped towards his left and stayed on his feet in anticipation, only for Timber to go the other way with a low shot and skew it wide of the post.

Bounou stuck to his instinct, and his intel, once again for the fifth kick, against Summerville, who didn’t deviate from his routine, and was rewarded with a save that dripped in nonchalance.

If he had gone for a regular full-length dive, it is unlikely that he would have gotten his hand onto Summerville’s powerful shot. But by going against the grain, Bounou ensured that the Moroccan World Cup expedition continued for another round.

Published on Jun 30, 2026