Perversely, a penalty shootout tends to excite football fans more than anything else.
As cruel as it is (or mildly amusing in the case of Chelsea's John Terry slipping in 2008 and Roman Abramovich's realisation that his vast investment would not yield a first Champions League trophy in his country), most of us enjoy the spectacle.
While it might just be the early stages of the League Cup, Liverpool and Middlesbrough served up an epic shootout last night which ended 14 - 13 from 30 attempts to the Premier League side.
It may be the longest penalty shootout in the League Cup's history, but of course that is still short of the ultimate record.
The longest official penalty shootout took place in the Namibian Cup final of 2005 which saw a tension-inducing 48 kicks taken, with KK Palace pipping Civics FC 17 - 16.
However, the Hampshire Senior Cup shootout between Brockenhurst and Andover is the high-water mark for penalty-taking prowess. It took until the 30th kick before either team missed and of course that being sudden death, it meant Claudio Herbert's miss gave Brockenhurst a 15 - 14 victory.
The African Nations Cup final has featured its fair share of shootout deciders in recent years. Since 1992, five finals have gone to penalties (although its biennial nature not only irritates Premier League managers but also makes that number less impressive).
But it is 1992 which overshadows the others as Ivory Coast, who went on to lose the 2006 and 2012 finals in shootouts, defeated Ghana 11 - 10:
In 2009, Olympiakos and AEK Athens played out an epic 4 - 4 draw in the Greek Cup final - and followed it up with a 15 - 14 penalty shootout which Olympiakos would win:
