In the midst of one of the most famous World Cup shootouts interventions of all, with so much focus on him, Tim Krul was only looking to one place. That was into the eyes of the Costa Rica players.

“You can see which ones are more nervous,” Krul smiles. “They’re not able to put the ball where they want.”

So it proved with Bryan Ruiz and Michael Umana, as Krul saved from both to send the Netherlands through to the semi-finals in 2014.

That moment of history came just minutes after Louis van Gaal had specifically brought on the goalkeeper as a penalty specialist, the first time that had happened in the competition’s history.

If it has consequently entered World Cup lore, but arguably had a much wider influence on how the competition is now played, that we are going to see over the next few days. It marked a moment where the focus for shootouts – at least as regards what the most important element is – shifted from kickers to keepers.

For years, after all, most of the thinking had been dominated by whether players could step up, whether they had the “bottle”, whether they could handle the psychology of it all.

The evolution of sports science and superior technical coaching has long moved us past the point where penalties are “a lottery”, but a lot of evidence has since evolved to show that goalkeepers have now introduced much greater variation.

They have become the true differential, as Emiliano Martinez has shown for Argentina and Jordan Pickford for England.

It got to the point with Martinez, and the extent of his proactivity, that Fifa had to change the rules on keeper movement.

Hugo Loris arguably showed it from the other side with France, since he wasn’t even getting close to any of those penalties in the 2022 final. The contrast in the keepers was the difference between winning the shootouts – and winning the World Cup – and not.

If players are confident they can beat a keeper, it’s on. If there’s doubt, the impact can be much greater.

So, while the loneliness of the kicker is still very much what most emotionally resonates with shootouts, the fact they can only take one kick is part of the point. The goalkeeper is involved in all of them.

“I loved the shootout,” Krul says. “Loved it, because I had five chances, minimum. And that’s why I felt the percentages were so much more in favour of me, because I knew one or two of them would be so nervous.”

In other words, they might feel the loneliness of the kicker; goalkeepers can play on that.

“I had a moment in Salvador for that shootout where I was walking to get ready, then looked up and saw the Dutch flag, saw the World Cup flag. And then the spider-cam came down and I saw myself on the screen,” Krul explains. “And just the realisation, ‘this s*** is real’.

“That’s what you dream of as a young boy, to play in a World Cup and have an impact for your country.”

And that’s also what kickers are fearing, to feel that impact in the wrong way.

One illustrative approach that coaches use to think about shootouts is that, if elite players wanted to, they could easily stick a ball in a top corner – where goalkeepers physically can’t reach – at will. All of Diego Maradona, Leo Messi, Roberto Baggio and Michel Platini especially could. And yet all of them have missed big shootout penalties.

“I spoke to all the strikers and all the midfielders in our squad and even the best were impacted by psychology,” Krul reveals. “I was even thinking, ‘my goodness, you’re a guy who’s killed the biggest Champions League matches and you’re impacted by this.’ So there’s so much going on.”

That’s precisely why Krul and goalkeepers like Martinez definitively moved away from the old approach of pre-emptively deciding where to dive, so as to give yourself the best chance of saving if you went the right way. That is certainly too much of a lottery. Hence, Krul looked into their eyes.

“Players now change their mind in the last split second. And you can see the ones that are more nervous. They are not able to put the ball into the top corner or the bottom corner. That’s the one you go for, where they are hitting it with 85% conviction rather than 100%.

“You have to be able to read and react, of course. You need the explosiveness and the experience, but it’s more and more psychology.

“It is a unique situation, basically.”

Hence, Pickford is now treating his approach as if they are trade secrets. When asked whether he’d come up with anything new on Saturday, he asserted he wasn’t getting into that as if this was an attempt at industrial espionage.

“It’s my job to make the saves and in tournaments, time and time before, I’ve always come up with a save in a shootout for England and I’ll hopefully continue that,” he said. “We believe in each other – they have confidence I can save a penalty and I have confidence they can score them.”

But that’s where Krul and other goalkeepers are now fully conscious of the twist.

“The pressure is all on the taker. And that’s why emotional control is key with these kinds of moments.”

The goalkeeper, to a far greater degree than ever before, has consequently become the real difference.

In 2024, I flew on a microgravity, or zero G, parabolic flight with the European Space Agency (ESA). The aeroplane flew big arcs up and down in the sky. At the top of the arc I experienced 22 seconds of weightlessness, just like an astronaut.

On the flight were some of ESA’s newest astronauts, training on the Microgravity Science Glovebox: a see-through box for doing science experiments in space, with gloves to let astronauts use their hands while the box stops the experiment from flying around. I was carrying out research on how to keep astronauts healthy in space.

Piloting us was ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who made floating around look easy: he hung serenely in the cabin while the scientists and trainees crashed about.

My career path to those moments in microgravity looks more like a maze than a straight line. I did an engineering apprenticeship, then an undergraduate degree in physiotherapy, then a Master’s degree in space physiology and health. Finally, a PhD on how to keep astronauts’ backs healthy combined all three.

There is no one way to be an astronaut – you can’t go to astronaut school. You need to pick up skills along the way before applying to be an astronaut candidate. The good news is there are many pathways to becoming an astronaut, or to be floating alongside them, like me.

The Stem and pilot routes

The most obvious and well-known routes are to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) subjects, while also becoming a pilot – these paths often intertwine. Exactly which Stem subject, and which kind of flying, counts depends on the space agency or private company you apply to, and on your nationality.

But most of the world’s current astronaut corps took this Stem pathway. Thomas Pesquet is one example: he qualified as an aerospace engineer and a transport pilot before becoming an astronaut candidate in the 2009 class.

The multidisciplinary route

The second, and increasingly common option, is the multidisciplinary route. It includes astronauts who have studied two or more fields that might not seem obviously related to each other, or to spaceflight. Combinations of life sciences and physics are popular, as with Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques. He trained as a biomedical engineer, astrophysicist and then as a medical doctor before becoming an astronaut.

ESA’s John McFall, who was with me on the 2024 parabolic flight, was a Paralympic sprinter and an NHS orthopaedic surgeon before he became an astronaut in 2022. Some combinations are more unusual still: Jessica Meir brought together marine biology and extreme-environment physiology before joining Nasa.

Each of these astronauts offers a unique mix of skills, valued in the complex, problem-solving world of spaceflight. That mix will matter even more on future planetary missions, where one person may need to fill several roles depending on which phase of the mission they are in.

The super-specialist route

The third path is the exact opposite. Instead of going broad, you dive deeply into one topic and become a world-leading expert. For example, ESA’s Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski earned two master’s degrees and a doctorate in radiation-tolerant electronics. He then worked at Cern, where he became responsible for the day-to-day running of the Large Hadron Collider, before being selected by ESA in 2022. Sometimes being a specialist
and being really, really good at what you do is itself a pathway to space.

It is worth saying that you don’t always have to decide young. Canadian Jenni Sidey-Gibbons was a combustion engineer and university lecturer before she was selected. Japan’s Makoto Suwa was an earth scientist and senior disaster risk management specialist at the World Bank before he was chosen by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in his forties.

There is no expiry date on the dream, and no single moment when you must decide. It is even fine to stumble along the way. Astronaut Scott Kelly had poor grades at school and failed at least one US Navy exam before becoming an astronaut. He never gave up.

The career path that doesn’t exist yet

Then there is one final route, which none of us knows, because it doesn’t exist yet. When it comes to who they might choose to go into space, commercial spaceflight companies are writing their own rulebooks as they go and are deliberately widening who qualifies as astronauts. We genuinely do not know who the career astronauts of the 2040s will be, or what they will have studied.

However, a strong grounding in mathematics, a science, English and another language is a great start. You will train and live alongside international crews as well as solve problems in space. Whatever you study, your hobbies are the final ingredient. Hobbies make you a rounder, happier, more capable person – the kind of person who makes a interesting crew member.

Get that foundation, do it brilliantly and the rest of what you study is up to you.

The Met Office has forecast the weather for Wales today.

It writes on its website: “Tuesday will start mostly dry with bright spells, especially in the east.

“However, patchy rain will affect west Wales and as the day progresses locally heavy showers will break out, reaching eastern parts by the afternoon.

“Pleasantly warm. Maximum temperature 21 °C.”

Ripon Grammar School (RGS) has been named the North of England Grammar School of the Year in the LUXlife Private Education Awards.

The accolade recognises the school’s success in providing both academic excellence and high-quality boarding within the state sector.

Jonathan Webb, headmaster of RGS, said: “We are incredibly proud to receive this award.

“It is particularly meaningful because it recognises that a state school can deliver an educational and boarding experience that rivals the very best in the independent sector.

“Our boarding community enriches the whole school and creates opportunities for students from a wide range of backgrounds to thrive.”

The LUXlife Private Education Awards, launched in 2021, celebrate excellence in teaching, innovation, leadership, and student support worldwide.

Melissa Bramall, awards coordinator, said: “We’re proud to recognise the commitment of such compassionate, empathetic, and caring individuals who form the integral teams within the private education market around the globe.

“I want to wish our winners all the best for the future ahead and another sincere round of applause for their accomplishments thus far.”

This latest recognition adds to the school’s accolades, reinforcing its status as a leading provider of state education with a broad national and international reach.

Former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson is likely to receive a prison sentence measured in decades rather than years when he returns to court later this year, with legal experts suggesting a term of between 12 and 20 years is the most probable outcome.

Donaldson, 63, was remanded into custody immediately after being convicted by a jury at Newry Crown Court of 18 historical sexual offences, including rape, committed against two girls over a period spanning more than two decades. At the conclusion of the trial, Judge Paul Ramsey warned that a “lengthy sentence of imprisonment” was inevitable.

While Northern Ireland has no formal sentencing guidelines equivalent to those used in England and Wales for these historical offences, previous Court of Appeal decisions provide a clear indication of the range available to the judge.

One senior Northern Ireland lawyer, who has examined comparable appellate cases, told Belfast Live the combination of a rape conviction, multiple victims, 18 offences and the prolonged period over which the abuse occurred places Donaldson’s case towards the upper end of sentences imposed for historical child sexual abuse.

“I think the most probable range is in the region of 12 to 20 years,” the lawyer said. “I think that’s likely to be structured as an extended custodial sentence, with a significant period in custody followed by an extended licence period.”

The lawyer said the inclusion of a rape conviction alongside numerous indecent assault convictions substantially increased the likely sentence.

“I don’t think there’ll be a life sentence,” they added. “Having looked at the Court of Appeal authorities, I don’t think it reaches that threshold.”

However, they stressed that a pre-sentence report, due to be prepared before Donaldson returns to court on 25th September, could influence the final outcome.

“If he were assessed as dangerous or presenting a high likelihood of reoffending, then that could aggravate the sentence further. But because of his age and the historic nature of the offences, an extended custodial sentence is more probable.”

After considering comparable Court of Appeal decisions involving historical rape and prolonged child sexual abuse, Judge Ramsey is likely to consider a global sentence somewhere between 16 and 20 years before deciding whether an extended custodial sentence is appropriate.

Unlike England and Wales, where judges can refer to Sentencing Council guidelines, Northern Ireland judges dealing with historical offences rely heavily on previous Court of Appeal judgments.

The most serious offence for which Donaldson was convicted, rape, carried a maximum sentence of life imprisonment at the time the offence was committed. His remaining convictions for indecent assault and gross indecency each carry lower statutory maximums, although judges sentence the offending as a whole rather than simply adding together the maximum penalty for every conviction.

Instead, the court will apply what lawyers describe as the “totality principle”, ensuring the overall sentence properly reflects the entirety of the offending without becoming disproportionate. In cases involving multiple victims, judges often treat offences against each victim separately before standing back to assess whether the overall sentence is just.

Several aggravating factors are likely to weigh heavily in Donaldson’s case. These include the number of victims, their young ages when the abuse began, the prolonged period over which the offending took place, the abuse of trust, the total of 18 convictions and the inclusion of rape.

The senior lawyer also pointed to Donaldson maintaining his innocence throughout the proceedings and requiring both complainants to give evidence at trial.

“There was no remorse or admission, and the victims were put through a trial, which is recognised as an aggravating factor,” they said.

Potential mitigating factors are far more limited. Donaldson has no prior criminal convictions, and his legal team is expected to emphasise his age, now 63, during the sentencing hearing.

However, because he denied the allegations and was convicted following a trial, he is not entitled to the substantial reduction in sentence available to defendants who plead guilty at an early stage.

The pre-sentence report ordered by Judge Ramsey will also be significant. As well as assessing Donaldson personally, it will help the court determine whether he should be regarded as a dangerous offender, something which could result in an extended custodial sentence.

Under that type of sentence, an offender serves a custodial term before remaining on licence in the community for an extended period after release.

Whatever sentence is ultimately imposed, Donaldson will also be subject to mandatory notification requirements as a convicted sex offender and is expected to face additional restrictions through a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

The case returns for a pre-sentencing hearing at Newry Crown Court on 25th September. Until then, Donaldson remains in custody at Maghaberry Prison following his conviction.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

A long-delayed military spending plan will be published on Tuesday, with Sir Keir Starmer saying it would keep Britain “safe and secure long into the future”.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the defence investment plan (DIP) includes £5bn worth of investment to increase the Armed Forces’ use of drones and autonomous weapons.

Earlier this month, the Treasury and No 10 agreed a £13.5bn funding increase, well short of the £28bn the MoD wanted – though new Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis has pushed for more in recent weeks. His predecessor John Healey resigned over the funding row.

The Conservatives said the plan was “too little, too late”, while the Liberal Democrats said it “dangerously short-changed our Armed Forces”.

Before releasing the DIP, the MoD provided an outline of some of its contents, including:

Despite his impending departure from Downing Street, Prime Minister Sir Keir is pushing ahead with the DIP.

Tense Whitehall negotiations over how to fund it have been ongoing for months, with departments across government asked to make cuts.

The row has seen two defence ministers resign over what they said was an inadequate funding increase in the original version of the plan.

The DIP will also explain how new equipment and defence infrastructure will be funded over the coming decade.

It was initially expected to be published in autumn 2025. Following months of talks over funding, the DIP now arrives shortly before the Nato leaders summit in Turkey on 7 July.

Earlier this month, Healey quit the government, saying the DIP fell “well short” of what is needed to protect the UK and meet existing spending commitments, while Armed Forces Minister Al Carns quit saying it was not “transformative enough” in the face of rapidly-evolving warfare.

It has been reported Jarvis has secured some extra money for the plan. He has has also spent the last two weeks “refocusing” the DIP to take on more of the lessons from Ukraine and Iran, the MoD said.

This includes how drones have been used to destroy high-value targets, with Jarvis saying the “character of warfare is rapidly changing”.

He said: “In Ukraine and the Middle East, uncrewed systems are defining conflicts.

“This largest ever UK investment into these evolving technologies will help our Armed Forces stay ahead of our adversaries, backed by the best of our defence industry.”

The Ministry of Defence has said plans to replace ageing warship will be scrapped in favour of building at least six new modern “hybrid” vessels equipped to deploy drones.

Sir Keir said there would be “game-changing investment” to strengthen the Armed Forces on land, at sea and in the air.

He said: “Today’s defence investment plan will help drive growth across the UK, giving our industrial base the confidence, certainty and support it needs to develop and scale the technologies that will keep our country safe and secure long into the future.”

His remarks come after unions and defence firms warned the continued delays to the DIP were a “threat” to British jobs, skills and national security.

A report has revealed the measures being taken by Police Scotland to deal with cyber attacks by criminals during the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow

Major steps have been taken by police to combat damaging cyber attacks by criminals during the Commonwealth Games, the Daily Record can reveal.

It’s feared any assault on the games’ IT and computer infrastructure could affect the smooth running of the ten day competition and cause chaos and confusion at the various events.

There are also fears that the public could fall victim to cyber criminals who set up fake websites to sell tickets to see the competitors. Glasgow sports fans then turn up at venues to discover the tickets are invalid and have been duped out of large sums of money.

A further fear is that hackers using the fake websites could put out wrong information on venues and locations causing chaos on the day of events.

Any breach of the IT system by cyber criminals could also affect the timing systems used in competitions.

A report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Scotland (HMICS) has revealed that a Police Scotland cyber team has linked up with the National Crime Agency who are responsible for investigating serious and organised crime across the UK.

The report also details the measures put in place to prevent and deal with any cyber attacks during the ten day event in Glasgow.

It said: “Key cyber-related risks have been explicitly recognised, including potential disruptive attacks, fraud-related activity and emerging technological risks.

“Experienced cyber investigators are available. Plans are in place for misinformation management, with messaging being developed to provide clarity and reassurance to the public where misinformation is considered a potential risk.

“Planning activity is progressing well between the Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre, Police Scotland, the Organising Company, the National Crime Agency and cyber security partners.

“The group has arranged a series of meetings to explore the coordination structures that would be activated, in the event of a cyber incident.

“The partners will continue to assess cyber threat levels and undertake scenario planning to develop a proportionate response.

“They also intend to establish a daily multi-agency cyber situational awareness group during the Games – as implemented for other major events – to monitor the broader cyber threat.”

A “dedicated Police Scotland communications cell” will also operate during the Games to coordinate any response to a cyber attack or attacks.

Major sporting occasions have been targeted by hackers and cyber criminals in the recent past. Prior to the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast in Australia police and organisers blocked 176,000 pieces of malware.

At the time one official described the situation as “the Wild West”, saying various attempted cyber attacks had been launched.

Malware is a programme specifically designed to damage, disrupt, or gain unauthorized access to a computer system. Cyber criminals use it to steal sensitive data, extort victims, hijack devices, and bypass security.

Major disruption was caused by a cyber attack which hit the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea in February 2018.

The official Games website, television and Internet systems were disrupted for about 12 hours, with problems arising just before the start of the ceremony.

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The 2026 Commonwealth Games will run from July 23 to August 2. It will be a slimmed down event with 3,000 athletes from 74 nations competing in ten sports including swimming and cycling.

Glasgow, who hosted the games in 2014, agreed to hold them for a second time after the State of Victoria in Australia withdrew as host in 2023 due to mounting costs.

The 67 page HMICS report also looked at law enforcement plans for the Games

HM Assistant Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland, Brian McInulty, said: “We found that Police Scotland has established a strong and credible foundation for the policing of the Games.

“We found planning is intelligence-led, risk aware and informed by learning from previous major events and high-profile visits. Collaborative working within intelligence, cyber and counter-terrorism functions has been well established.”

Police Scotland Gold Commander Assistant Chief Constable Mark Sutherland said: “We are aware of the potential for cyber-attacks which are often led by organised crime groups. We will continue to assess cyber threat levels in the run up to and during the Games.

“Managing cyber-risk has been a core part of the planning process and during the Games we have will have specialist cyber investigators available. Our preparedness also includes testing and exercising various scenarios, such as cyber threats, to ensure an effective and coordinated response to incidents.”