The match between Morocco and Spain in the round of 16 of the Qatar World Cup, on Tuesday, witnessed an incident that is repeated only for the second time in the history of the World Cup, and its hero was Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
Morocco achieved a historic achievement and qualified for the quarter-finals of the World Cup, at the expense of Spain, with a penalty shootout.
And the “Atlas Lions” managed to win 3-0 after Spain failed to score any penalty kick, and Bono excelled, who saved two penalties.
And throughout the history of the World Cup, no team failed to score any goal from a penalty kick except once, when the Swiss players failed against Ukraine in the round of 16 of the 2006 World Cup.
Morocco’s crushing victory on penalties came after Spain’s coach, Luis Enrique, revealed on the eve of the match that he had given each of his players an “imposition” regarding penalty shootouts, because he was convinced that it was not a lottery, but part of the game.
In his press conference, on Monday, Enrique said, “A year ago, during one of the Spanish national team’s camps, I told them (the players) that they had to get here (the Qatar World Cup) and each of them had executed a thousand penalty kicks.”
He continued, “I imagine that they have fulfilled the duty required of them,” considering that if they waited until they reached Qatar in order to practice penalty kicks, the time would not be enough.
“I’m sure we’ll have to take it in a knockout game. For me, it’s not a lottery,” he predicted. “It’s a moment of extreme tension. A moment to show your composure and that you can take the penalty the way it decides if you’ve trained to take it a thousand times.” Once”.
And he believed that the execution of penalty kicks “says a lot about every player. It (penalty kicks) is something that can be trained, that can be managed. (It teaches you) how to control tension. Luck has a lesser role and goalkeepers have a greater influence.”
Spain reached the semi-finals of the European Cup in the summer of 2021, after it overcame Switzerland in the quarter-finals with a penalty shootout, which was also the reason for its fall against Italy in the round of four.
Morocco, which became the first Arab team to qualify for the quarter-finals of the World Cup, will meet the winner of the Switzerland-Portugal match, which will be held later, on Tuesday.