Spain were knocked out of the last two major competitions – the 2018 World Cup and Euro 2020 – in a penalty shoot-out and coach Luis Enrique does not want history to repeat itself. And the truth is that he started working on solving this problem right after the European Championship elimination against Italy.
“A little over a year ago, during an internship, I told them to arrive in Qatar with at least 1,000 penalties taken. I imagine they did their homework and didn’t wait to come here to train penalties” , said the coach, aged 52, ahead of next Tuesday’s match (3 p.m.) against Morocco, which counts for the round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup.
Luis Enrique believes that punishments “are not a lottery”. “It’s a moment of high tension, a moment to show courage and score like you’ve trained a thousand times,” he said, making sure “it’s something that you train,” including the way “how everybody releases the tension.” manages” of the moment. The Spanish coach also admitted that each of his goalkeepers “can perform very well in the penalty shoot-out”.
At the launch of the game against Morocco, Luis Enrique guaranteed that his team’s style of play is “non-negotiable” and refuted criticism of the poor play seen at the World Cup in Qatar. “I enjoyed the performance, it was remarkably high, except for 10 minutes [com o Japão]”, he said, taking up the challenge before the duel with the Moroccans: “We are looking for victory in a beautiful way, which means training in a way that the players like.”
About the opponent, Luís Enrique says that it is the selection that is “in better shape” in this World Cup, guaranteeing that “if anyone underestimates Morocco, it is not the Spanish selection” and that his team is “very motivated” because after all “the goal is to play seven games” in this World Cup.
Morocco and the “good surprise”
However, Morocco coach Hoalid Regragui admitted that it would be “a good surprise” if his team knocks out Spain, which he considers “one of the best teams in the world” that “has no weaknesses”. “You have to have a lot of mental strength and wait for the right moment to counterattack,” he revealed, hoping that “Spain doesn’t know what to do with the ball”.
This is the third time these two teams have faced each other, with the first two counting towards the Euro-African play-off for the 1962 World Cup, with the Spaniards winning both games (1-0 and 3-2). At the 2018 World Cup, in Russia, the other match took place, which counted for the group stage, which ended in a 2-2 draw.
Source: DN
