What's the matter with you? It's easy!

Morgan Breuer faced four soccer fans and a Herald reporter to test just how hard it is to score a penalty kick. Picture / Greg Bowker

Eleven metres. That's the distance from the penalty spot to a soccer goal. And the goal is more than 7m across and 2.5m high. So it shouldn't be that hard for professional footballers - particularly those paid hundreds of thousands of dollars every week - to score a penalty kick.

But if the World Cup is any indication, it's not so easy. Three games have been decided in the drama of a penalty shoot-out.

England became the latest victims yesterday morning when their quarter-final against Portugal finished 0-0 after extra time.

In the shoot-out that followed, they scored one of four penalties. Portugal missed two but scored three - enough to win the best-of-five shoot-out and the game.

Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo became the first goalkeeper to save three penalties in a World Cup finals shootout.

Argentina scored only two when they lost to host nation Germany, and Switzerland went out in the previous round after missing all their penalties against Ukraine.

The Herald decided to test how difficult it is to hit the back of the net - and found that the professionals could learn a thing or two from some New Zealand soccer fans.

Morgan Breuer, goalkeeper for Northern Premier League champions Bay Olympic, went between the sticks to face four randomly selected soccer fans and a Herald reporter.

First up was Verne Russell, a 43-year-old industrial minerals company manager and president of Bay Olympic, who drilled the ball into the top left of the goal.

"It's easy when you have the experience I have had over the years - and I've never been paid any money," he said.

Katherine McDonald, an 18-year-old student, plays soccer for North Shore and was confident.

"You just pick the same spot and don't change your mind." She placed her shot in the bottom left corner.

The third strike also beat the goalkeeper. Kim Beale, 42, life skills and senior coach at Wynrs, the soccer school run by Oceania player of the century Wynton Rufer, said scoring was all about "head-space".

"The more it's worth, the more pressure there is and the harder it is," he said.

Twelve-year-old Martin Pavic, a student at Blockhouse Bay Intermediate, was the only one to miss. He blazed his shot over the crossbar. He said he was put off by people watching.

"I took it too quickly and the goal seemed to get smaller," Martin said.

And finally, as an amateur player myself, I took one to see how tough it is. While there weren't 60,000 fans watching and a place in the World Cup semifinal at stake, it was still fairly easy to curl one into the top corner.

Breuer, 32, said Katherine McDonald's was the best-placed penalty. The men struck the ball with more power, but hers was the most accurate kick.

And he poured scorn on professionals who could not find the back of the net.

"They get paid a fortune and practise every day," he said. "Try being in goal. The goal is a lot bigger than the keeper."

All Whites coach Ricki Herbert said fans shouldn't be too critical. "In the heat of a competition of that stature, and after playing for nearly two hours, it is hard to imagine the sort of pressure they are under."

England have now been sent packing from a major tournament on penalties four times in the past 10 years.

Those who missed for England yesterday included superstars Frank Lampard and Jamie Carragher. Lampard is understood to be on a contract with his club team Chelsea worth £130,000 ($394,300) a week. For Argentina, Roberto Ayala and Esteban Cambiasso were the unlucky ones.