Spain's horrendous World Cup penalty record continued as La Roja crashed out of the tournament with a 3-0 shootout defeat by Morocco on Tuesday.
Luis Enrique's players were ordered to take 1,000 penalties each over the last year in the build-up to the competition as they tried to get themselves in the best possible position if a shootout occurred. Spain may have not expected to have penalties so early into the World Cup, but a lacklustre performance meant they were held to a goalless draw by an in-form Morocco side.
Spain dominated possession throughout the game but failed to create many clear-cut chances as Morocco defended resolutely and kept the scores level. The north Africans then had arguably the best opportunity through Walid Cheddira, but he was unable to beat Unai Simon from close-range as the game finished goalless after extra-time.
The tie needed to be decided by penalties, and despite practicing 1,000 spot-kicks each, Spain came out as second best by some distance as Morocco breezed through. Hakim Ziyech, Abdelhamid Sabiri and Achraf Hakimi scored the decisive kicks as Morocco ran out 3-0 winners, with Sergio Busquets among the Spanish players to miss.
Pablo Sarabia and Carlos Soler also failed to find the net from 12 yards as Morocco booked their place in the quarter-finals of the competition, where they will face Portugal or Switzerland. In the meantime, Spain also became the first nation in World Cup history to lose four penalty shootouts, while they've become just the second side to not score in one, after Switzerland against Ukraine in 2006.
Unsurprisingly, Spain were slammed after the game for their indecisiveness from the penalty spot. Enrique revealed how he instructed every potential member of his squad to hone their skills from 12 yards after they suffered the agony of being eliminated from the last World Cup and Euro 2020 in the cruellest of circumstances.
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Before the game, the Spain boss claimed penalty shootouts are a test of skill and nerve rather than luck, having told his players that they must practise the art when they are training with their clubs. Enrique said on Monday: "One year ago, I gave the players some homework.
"I told them they must all take at least 1,000 penalties when they are working with their clubs. I am sure they all did their homework. Penalty shootouts are not a lottery. The outcome doesn’t just depend on luck. Taking a penalty in those circumstances is a moment of the highest pressure.
"So you need to be able to call on your technique and skill. Of course, you can’t recreate the pressure in training, but you can get better at taking penalties. The players have all been taking penalties in our training sessions and, of course, the goalkeepers play an important role as well, so we have also been training them."
