Spain coach Luis Enrique set every of his gamers the “homework” of practising 1,000 penalties forward of the FIFA World Cup, saying he’s satisfied they aren’t a lottery.
The 2010 world champion faces Morocco within the final 16 on Tuesday, with the specter of extra-time and penalties looming within the knockout part of the match in Qatar.
Spain beat Switzerland on penalties ultimately yr’s Euro 2020 however was eradicated on spot-kicks by Italy within the semifinals.
Spain gamers react in the course of the penalty shoot-out in the course of the UEFA Euro 2020 Championship semifinal towards Italy at Wembley Stadium.
| Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES
“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 stated on Monday.
“I imagine that they have done their homework. If you wait until getting here to practise penalties… (it won’t be enough).
The Spaniard insisted spot kicks were “not a lottery”.
“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,” he stated.
“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.”
The Spain coach additionally responded to criticism over the crew’s fashion of play – its dedication to enjoying out from defence generally places it underneath strain in harmful areas.
Japan earned a shock 2-1 win over Spain, with its first purpose coming after the European crew misplaced the ball on the sting of its field and Ritsu Doan slammed residence.
“Every team has their weapons,” stated Enrique. “We want to get the ball in the best way possible to the forwards,”
“If we have to hit a long ball, we’ll hit it. The interpretation has to be done on the pitch.”
He stated he didn’t agree with Spain’s critics.
“It doesn’t make sense to say that against Japan if we hoofed it away to clear our lines we wouldn’t have let in the first goal,” he stated.
“We also wouldn’t have scored any goals if we kept kicking it long. We will keep playing the ball out from the back, it’s what we want.”
Enrique confirmed that Cesar Azpilicueta had recovered from his knock towards Japan and all 26 gamers can be match to coach on Monday night forward of the sport.