Spain ‘took 1,000 penalties’ to prepare for World Cup shootout – and it backfired
Spain boss Luis Enrique went into detail over the intense penalty preparations he expected of his players – and it completely flopped as they crashed out to Morocco in the round of 16 after a goalless draw.
Yassine Bounou pushed Pablo Sarabia’s effort wide of the target to open the shootout for Spain – with Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets following in his footsteps to give Achraf Hakimi the chance to win it – which he did in some style.
The shootout loss came after Enrique smiled while explaining their intense spot-kick preparations, with Spain losing three of their four previous World Cup shoot-outs.
READ MORE: Luis Enrique makes same Gareth Southgate England mistake as Spain crash out of World Cup
“I imagine that they have done their homework. Over a year ago, in one of the Spain camps, I told them they had to get here with at least 1,000 penalties taken,” Enrique told reporters before the game.
“If you wait until getting here to practise penalties… [it won’t be enough].
“It’s a moment of maximum tension, a time to show your nerve and that you can shoot the penalty in the way you have decided, if you have trained it a thousand times.
What would be a good alternative to penalties? Tell us in the comments section below.
(Image: Getty Images)
“It says a lot about each player. It’s trainable, manageable, how you manage the tension.
“It’s increasingly less luck – the goalkeepers have more influence. We have a very good goalkeeper, any of the three can do very well in this situation.
“Every time we finish training, I see a lot of players taking penalties.”
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
To make matters worse, Enrique was compared to Gareth Southgate for his decision to make subs for the shoot-out – piling the pressure on them.
With Southgate doing so for Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford in the final of Euro 2020, the same was done with Sarabia of PSG by the Spain boss.
From his penalties in normal play, Sarabia had scored all 16 across his spells with Sporting, Sevilla and PSG, as well as netting two in his time playing for Spain.
READ NEXT: