Spain coach Luis Enrique has urged his players to score at least 1,000 penalties before the start of the World Cup in Qatar. La Roja could endure such an ordeal this Tuesday in the round of 16 against Morocco.
Luis Enrique required his players to be selected with their clubs ahead of the 2022 World Cup “with at least a thousand penalties scored” in anticipation of a shoot-out, the Spain coach revealed on Monday ahead of the eighth final against Morocco. “I warned them that they had to come with at least 1,000 penalties with their clubs. There will definitely be a knockout game where we have to go to a shootout,” Luis Enrique warned at a press conference.
“It’s not a lottery. It’s a moment of very high tension where you have to keep your nerve and keep the pressure going. And you hit the ball better when you’ve practiced. It’s a moment that defines a player, “, continued the coach of La Roja. “The goalkeeper also has a great influence. And we have three very good goalkeepers (Unai Simon, Robert Sanchez and David Raya). Each of these three can persevere,” said the “Luccho”.
Memories of contrasting penalty shootouts at Euro 2021
Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bono is also a well-known goalkeeper in Spain as he plays for Sevilla FC. And the Atlas Lions second goaltender, Munir El Kajoui, was born in Melilla (Spanish enclave in Morocco), was raised in Spanish D2 and is fluent in Spanish. “That’s what we trained for here (in Doha) and I see a lot of players staying at the end of our sessions to take penalties,” said the Spain coach.
At the Euro in summer 2021, La Roja had contested two penalties: In the quarterfinals against Switzerland they won (1: 1, 4: 2 on penalties) with two great performances: “Unai Simon and Yann Sommer. However, at half-time she lost 1-1, 5-3 to the future Italian winners.
ABr with Florent Germain with AFP