Spain’s World Cup squad were told to practice penalties before they boarded the plane to Qatar. 1000 was the benchmark set by Luis Enrique, but when push came to shove, it didn’t do them any good as they were sensationally dumped out of the World Cup by Morocco in Tuesday night’s last 16 game.
The Spaniards failed to score a single penalty as Morocco won the shoot-out 3-0. The result cost manager Luis Enrique his job.
Some 48 hours before the drama at the Education City Stadium, Glen manager Malachy O’Rourke spoke of his philosophy on practising spot-kicks and stressed that his men won’t be dwelling on the prospect of Sunday’s Ulster Club SFC against champions Kilcoo going to a shoot-out.
Read more: Glen vs Kilcoo Ulster Club Championship final: Live stream and TV Info
When asked how much his side practised penalties in training, O’Rourke stated: “Very little to be honest.
“I stand to be corrected on this but even looking at the soccer teams, there’s not one of those players who can’t stick the ball in the corner of the net at training, but it’s the whole mental side of things when the pressure is on and being able to handle that. And you can’t really replicate that.
“Surely we have done a wee bit on it and the boys know who is taking the penalties but it wouldn’t be a thing we obsess over but look, who’s to say who’s right and who’s wrong. If it comes to pass, hopefully we will be prepared enough for it.”
It would be of no great surprise if Sunday’s decider goes all the way at the Athletic Grounds and the bookmakers cannot split the finalists with both Glen and Kilcoo priced up at 11/10.
Last season’s semi-final meeting at the same venue went to extra-time before Jerome Johnston drilled the ball into the roof of the Glen net towards the end of the first period of extra-time with the Down men ending the year as Ulster and All-Ireland champions.
O’Rourke knows his side must take the learnings from that defeat, but insists his men must also improve from their last outing after Danny Tallon’s late penalty gave them a slightly flattering five-point win over Antrim champions Cargin in Omagh.
“When you lose you hope to learn something from it. We just have to be better on the ball,” said O’Rourke.
“Last year I suppose our shot conversion wasn’t good enough and we gave away some ball and then when they had the ball we were too porous at times so without going into specifics there are lots of things we need to be better at.
“Going into the Cargin game, we were hoping for a better performance and we didn’t get the performance we would’ve liked.
“In saying that, we got through and we are hoping we can lift it now and we need to lift it now for Sunday.
“They (Kilcoo) seem to be liberated when they come into Ulster where they have been really impressive, so we are well warned about their dangers but it is about seeing if we can cope with them.”
The former Fermanagh and Monaghan manager also spoke of his concerns the split season will have on county players.
Conor Glass, Emmett Bradley and Ethan Doherty all featured in Derry’s Ulster Championship winning side earlier this summer while Conlann Bradley was second-choice goalkeeper behind Odhran Lynch.
The Oak Leafers will play their first competitive game of 2023 in next month’s Dr McKenna Cup with the draw for the pre-season competition set to take place next Tuesday night.
O’Rourke knows that the Glen players will be in demand once again and Rory Gallagher might have his eye on another few Maghera men.
While the first proper split season has generally been seen as a success, O’Rourke feels county players need some down time before committing to another arduous campaign.
The one big drawback I see with it is for county players themselves who are with clubs who are going on late in the year,” added O’Rourke.
“Some of our boys have been on the go for two years like Conor Glass, Emmet Bradley, Ethan Doherty, Conlann Bradley - though he doesn’t do the same running about as those other boys!
“They have been really going now for two years because they came back to the club and we gave them a couple of weeks off and now they’re still playing in December, I don’t know how many weeks they will get and then it’s straight back in and going right through, so those lads are on the go solid for two years and I don’t know how long you can keep that going.
“Really they should be getting now… whenever Glen finishes… they should be getting an off-season and then a pre-season to get them right for next year. In all honesty, and that’s not blaming anybody, but that’s the way it is at the minute.
“The league starts at the end of January are going to go back in and they’re on the treadmill again. I don’t know how long that can go on.
“That’s the bit of it I feel is tough for the boys who are going all the time.
“I don’t know what the answer is in the long term but if you’re involved in both and successful in both, it’s tough now.”
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