Again in a World Cup. And again in the fateful penalty shootout. The Spanish team said goodbye to the World Cup in Qatar in the round of 16 after falling from eleven meters against Morocco. An unprecedented event with Pablo Sarabia, Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets failing the first three maximum penalties. Bono dressed as a hero and Achraf sentenced ‘La Roja’ with a ‘panenka’ style shot. Thus, and with this defeat in Doha, Spain has become the team that has lost the most penalty shootouts in the history of World Cup events. Four out of five.
In this way, Morocco joins the list of nightmares experienced in a World Cup by the Spanish team. Black history with the maximum penalties began to be forged in Mexico 86 against Belgium, when Eloy missed the penalty from eleven meters and Miguel Muñoz’s team stayed at the gates of the semifinals. Already 16 years later, history repeated itself again and ‘La Roja’ fell in the quarterfinals against South Korea in 2002 with a mistake by Joaquín.
Now, Luis Enrique’s team has traced the path that Fernando Hierro’s Spain followed in Russia in 2018. In the same way and at the same stop, Spain said goodbye in the round of 16 after losing in a penalty shootout against the hosts. And four years later at Education City Stadium, the happy fortune has once again turned its back on the Spanish team against Morocco. Only in the round of 16 of 2002 and against Ireland, ‘La Roja’ won in a shootout thanks to a save by Iker Casillas.
With the defeat in QatarSpain has played up to a total of 12 penalty shootouts, with an equal balance: six wins and six losses. Although four of them, in a World Cup event. A) Yes, ‘La Roja’ has enlarged its black history with the maximum penalties and the curse of the eleven meters seems to continue in force in the history of the selection.
