Josef Martínez didn’t always take penalties with a hop right before striking the ball. In fact, he didn’t always take penalties, full stop. It was during his time playing in Italy, in 2016, when another player was the team’s designated penalty taker, that he began to experiment in training. At the time, the no-look penalty was being used by players like Eden Hazard, Jorginho and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and it was the preferred method of Torino F.C.’s Brazilian fullback Bruno Peres. Martínez and Peres were teammates and close friends during the Venezuelan’s brief stint in Serie A.



“He took penalties like that, but he wouldn’t jump,” Martínez said. “And I asked him, ‘How do you do that without looking at the ball?’ He would tell me, ‘Look, brother, just watch (the goalkeeper). You know the ball’s there.’”



Peres, who went on to play for Roma and is...