How do you prepare for something that is by its very nature unpredictable? When everybody is watching, out to deceive, and the biggest clues — wrapped up in the smallest of details — only appear right at the last moment, is there really any use?It is the question that has repeatedly faced goalkeepers in the age of soccer analytics when it comes to penalty shootouts. The information is out there, but attackers also know that every one of their past attempts have been studied and mapped. What if they go the opposite way, just to mix things up?Trying to predict every penalty can tie a goalkeeper up in a psychological knot. But the consensus seems to be that shot-stoppers should do their homework, while also balancing their research with their instincts on the day, picking up on any signs from the attacker’s body language that might sway them from the original plan.With so much data to take in, penalty ‘cheat sheets’ have started to appear on goalkeeper’s bottles and scribbled on pieces of paper. They present a fascinating case study of how to condense information into something digestible for a professional athlete who, in the heat of the moment, just needs to make a decision; left, right, or middle.Not all goalkeepers deal with the mind-games the same. Some prefer certainty; before England’s penalty-shootout with Switzerland at Euro 2024, Jordan Pickford was spotted reading printed notes from his water bottle, his research summarised into simple instructions — “Dive left”, “Fake right”, “Set, react”. Pickford’s water bottle from England’s Euro 2024 quarter-final against Switzerland (Carl Recine/Getty Images)Others like to leave it a little more open to interpretation, and Brazil’s goalkeeper Alisson seems to be one of those players. The German newspaper Bild found and published what they say are the penalty notes for Alisson from Friday, written up in case their World Cup knockout tie against Norway on Sunday had gone the distance.Scrawled handwriting and shorthand goalkeeping terminology make it difficult to read in places, but The Athletic had a go at translating it.