Some words of wisdom to soccer players this week who find themselves in the precarious position of needing to make a penalty kick: Shoot high and aim right.

There's no doubt some penalty kicks are the product of luck -- the keeper jumped left at the same time the kicker shot right -- but there's a clear pattern for success in the four World Cups dating to 1998. The most-fruitful spot is the top-right portion of the goal, where players have converted 12 of 13 shots for a 92.3% conversion rate. That's 17% better than the 19 shots aimed toward the top left, where 15 have gone in.

This right-side advantage continues in the lower portion of the net, where the success rate for kicks to the right is 64.3% compared with 55.6% in the lower left. The explanation for this one-sided dominance is partially that a shot to the right favors the offensiveplayer, who's likely right-handed and thus more powerful to that side. This simultaneously puts the keeper at a disadvantage because he's also likely right-handed and is forced to jump to his left to save the ball.

As for the temptation of shooting down the center and embarrassing the keeper -- save it for amateur hour. There have been 20 such attempts since 1998, and only 60% have found the back of the net.

David Biderman

• wisdom [´wizdəm] n.智慧，聪明，才智 (初中英语单词)
• keeper [´ki:pə] n.管理人；看守；保管人 (初中英语单词)
• portion [´pɔ:ʃən] n.嫁妆；命运 vt.分配 (初中英语单词)
• advantage [əd´vɑ:ntidʒ] n.优势；利益 (初中英语单词)
• explanation [,eksplə´neiʃən] n.解释；说明；辩解 (初中英语单词)
• player [´pleiə] n.游戏的人；选手 (初中英语单词)
• amateur [´æmətə, ,æmə´tə:] n.业余爱好者 (初中英语单词)
• penalty [´penlti] n.刑罚；惩罚；障碍 (高中英语单词)
• offensive [ə´fensiv] a.冒犯的 n.进攻 (高中英语单词)
• disadvantage [,disəd´vɑ:ntidʒ] n.不利(条件)；损失 (高中英语单词)
• temptation [temp´teiʃən] n.引诱，诱惑(物) (高中英语单词)
• precarious [pri´keəriəs] a.不安定的；危险的 (英语四级单词)
• conversion [kən´və:ʃən] n.转化；变换；皈依 (英语四级单词)
• partially [´pɑ:ʃəli] ad.部分地；局部地 (英语四级单词)
• simultaneously [,siməl´teinjəsli] ad.同时，一起 (英语四级单词)