The penalty shootout between Spain & Morocco was fascinating. Morocco protected Africa’s honor, w/ immense interest at home. Spain was a big favorite, but failed last (2021 Euros) and missed ALL 3 shots now. Why? Here some observations on penalties, psychology and leadership. 1/
Morocco were underdogs also on penalty experience. Sabiri & Benoun only had 8 & 9 prior penalties (7 goals/88% & 8 goals/89%, respectively) and Hakimi had 0 prior penalties. Ziyech had more, 22 shots, but only 16 goals (73%).
Despite this, Simon went wrong on 3 of 4 shots. 2/
Despite this, Simon went wrong on 3 of 4 shots. 2/
Spain’s Sarabia & Soler are normally great penalty takers (16 goals/16 shots=100% and 17/19=89%, respectively), but since their transfers to PSG they've naturally been behind in the queue, thus no penalties this season.
Busquets only has 1 prior shot (his miss in 2021 Euros). 3/
Busquets only has 1 prior shot (his miss in 2021 Euros). 3/
Morocco’s GK Bono went correctly on all 3 Spanish shots. This reduces the chance of a goal to less than 60%. Preparation, skill or luck? Hard to know, but Bono’s pre-shot movements were clever, with believable deceptive steps, possibly nudging the shot to where he wanted them. 4/
Bono has played in Spain for 10 years, knew his opponents well & radiated of confidence. He even made Busquets smile pre penalty. To me a smile is always advantage goalkeeper. It's NOT a sign of a relaxed player, it is a sign of a focus led away to something else than the job. 5/
How were Spanish players supporting each other during the event? Towards the end they gave up & when Busquets missed, the team passively watched him walk 50 m back to the mid circle.
I like better when teams break up the huddle to get teammates more quickly back to the group. 6/
I like better when teams break up the huddle to get teammates more quickly back to the group. 6/
How did Spain's coach support his players before the shootout? After extra time, Enrique quickly walked over to some of the penalty takers. Clearly he had a plan & executed it early. This is good leadership, buying him time to focus on emotional support afterwards. 7/
However, after this initial phase, Enrique withdrew from the team and walked away from the group. It seemed the plan was to let the players take charge of the huddle and make their own decisions. Busquets was left to lead the team (supported by senior players, Rodri & Alba). 8/
Busquets had a pen & paper, asked questions & seemingly assigned teammates to different shots (presumably shots #3 and on, as Enrique already had communicated to some).
Should Busquets do this complex job at this moment, only minutes before he himself is up to take a penalty? 9/
Should Busquets do this complex job at this moment, only minutes before he himself is up to take a penalty? 9/
I’ve never before seen a coach leave this process to the players. On one hand, empowering & giving autonomy to players is commendable, but NOT in the last minutes before a shootout. In that moment, players need direction, clarity, support, love & presence from their coach. 10/
What about Morocco? Their coach, Regragui, immediately gathered the team and led a process where he seemed to ask his players to step up by show of hands. It's possible/likely this had been spoken about in advance & that this process was simply repeating who takes which shot. 11/
A World Cup penalty shootout is always about skill, psychology and luck. Morocco showed brilliance, offered each other good support & had some luck. The two Spanish penalty specialists did not deliver what they normally do & coach/team were collectively not able to recover. 12/
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