## The Passed Penalty
Trick Play · 1982, Ajax & 2016, FC Barcelona
Exploiting the rulebook, the penalty taker taps the ball forward for a sprinting teammate to score on an unguarded net.
### The Story
Most fans think a penalty kick is a strictly regulated one-on-one duel between a shooter and a goalkeeper. But according to the laws of soccer, a penalty is actually just a direct free kick. In 1982, Ajax legend Johan Cruyff recognized this loophole and decided to turn the game's most isolated, high-pressure moment into a choreographed team play.
Facing Helmond Sport, Cruyff stepped up to the penalty spot. Instead of shooting, he softly tapped the ball diagonally forward. His teammate, Jesper Olsen, timed a dead sprint from outside the penalty box, raced past the frozen defenders onto the loose ball, and drew the diving goalkeeper off his line. Olsen then passed it laterally back to Cruyff for an effortless tap-in. The crowd and the opposition were utterly stunned.
Decades later, the ultimate tribute occurred in 2016 when FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez flawlessly recreated the exact routine against Celta Vigo. It stands as the ultimate display of soccer audacity—a move that humiliates the defense while demonstrating a profound, genius-level understanding of the game's rulebook.
### How It Works
- The Penalty Taker: Sets up at the penalty spot as if to shoot, but instead softly taps the ball diagonally forward into open space. - The Sprinter: Starts exactly on the edge of the D-shaped arc outside the penalty box, timing a full-speed run to avoid crossing the line before the ball is touched. - The Bait: As the Sprinter reaches the loose ball, the panicked goalkeeper is forced to dive or step off their line to challenge them, leaving the goal abandoned. - The Finish: The Sprinter passes the ball laterally back to the original Penalty Taker, who easily slots the ball into the completely empty net.
### Strengths
- Completely neutralizes the goalkeeper's traditional advantage by forcing them off their line and out of position. - Psychologically demoralizes the opposing team through sheer audacity and unpredictability.
### Weaknesses
- Demands perfect timing; if the sprinting teammate crosses into the penalty box a fraction of a second before the ball is kicked, it results in an encroachment foul. - Alert defenders can sprint in to intercept and clear the loose ball—a humiliating disaster famously suffered by Arsenal's Robert Pires and Thierry Henry in 2005.