Ahead of the World Cup, then Spain boss Julen Lopetegui reportedly informed his squad that vice captain David Silva would call the set-piece shots in Russia.
The Manchester City midfielder was told by Lopetegui that he would be Spain’s penalty taker should his team be awarded one during the tournament.
Lopetegui was given the boot by the Spanish FA on the eve of the tournament after he agreed to take over at Real Madrid for next season. Fernando Hierro was asked to take up the reins in Russia and, according to AS, he is not rocking the boat too much.
Silva is still said to be the man Spain will turn to if they are awarded a spot-kick and Hierro has settled on his penalty takers for the knock-out stages.
Hierro has asked his players to practice penalties after training ahead of their second round meeting with tournament hosts Russia. He has also been working on different strategies should the game go to extra time as, for the first time in World Cup history, a fourth substitution will be allowed.
Per AS, the penalty takers are:
- David Silva
- Diego Costa
- Isco
- Sergio Busquets
- Andres Iniesta
That means Iniesta has been tasked with taking the final penalty, should any shoot-outs reach that tense stage. That is, of course, on the proviso that all five players are on the pitch after 120 minutes of action.
Interestingly, there is no place for Sergio Ramos in that quintet. The Real Madrid star has taken penalties for club and country in the past and, most recently for Spain, dispatched a spot-kick in a 3-3 draw with Russia.
Ramos did miss from the penalty spot against Croatia at Euro 2016 and, only back in May, he cracked the bar in a 3-2 defeat to Sevilla.
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