Unai Simon reveals how goalkeeping has changed to 'direct play'

PETE JENSON: Unai Simon recovered from a howler at Euro 2020 to help Spain reach the semi-finals with his penalty heroics… now he’s heading to the World Cup as one of the world’s most in-demand goalkeepers

• Goalkeeper Unai Simon has experienced highs and lows of tournament football
• The Spanish keeper allowed a gentle back pass to roll over his feet at Euro 2020
• Simon recovered by saving two penalties in the shoot-out against Switzerland
• Now, Luis Enrique’s No 1 is going to Qatar as one of the most in-demand stoppers
• Click here for the latest World Cup 2022 news, fixtures, live action and results

Few players know the highs and lows of tournament football quite like Spain keeper Unai Simon.

In last summer’s Euros he allowed Pedri’s gentle back pass to roll over his foot and into the back of the net giving Croatia a 1-0 lead after just 20 minutes. 

He recovered as Spain won the last-16 game 5-3. And in the next match he saved two penalties in the shoot-out against Switzerland to put them in the semi-finals.

Few players know the highs and lows of tournaments quite like Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon

The Spanish goalkeeper saved two penalties in the shoot-out against Switzerland at Euro 2020

He still has his ‘cheat-sheet’ folded up in one of his kit bags from that successful shoot-out against the Swiss and he eloquently explains the science behind giving keepers a chance in those pressure moments.

But first the Pedri moment – was his confidence not shattered by such an awful mistake, so early in the game?

Especially knowing the way Spain play meant he couldn’t just hammer the ball down the other end of the pitch every time it came near him?

‘When it’s a technical error and not a conceptual one, you don’t think anything more than: I’ve messed up, on to the next pass,’ he says.

‘You can’t stop playing the right pass just because you’ve played a poor quality ball – we all make mistakes. If your error is because you’ve not understood the idea then that’s more of a concern.’

So what is ‘the idea’? He says it is more than him just being a back-pass option for his defenders.

Simon gets the ball out the net after his error gifted Croatia a goal in the Euro 2020 game

‘Normally when you play with your goalkeeper it means that they are pressing you with 10 and you are playing out with 11,’ he explains.

‘There should be a man free. So the job of the keeper, apart from being comfortable on the ball, is to direct the play towards the free man.

‘If the striker comes at you from the right then the defender that he has left could be free, or if someone else has come out to mark that defender then there is someone in the second line who is free.’

Simon was a more traditional keeper when he first broke into the Spain squad and he admires those whose more orthodox qualities compliment their ability with the ball at their feet.

‘I still look at a keeper and think: okay, he is very good with his feet, but we are starting to get a bit crazy in the way we look at the position. What is a keeper’s primary job?

‘He has to be able to be able to make saves. He has to command his area. He has to be the defence’s insurance policy. I know a lot of keepers in big leagues who are very good with their feet but then they are bit more limited in other things.

‘And there are those who are the opposite. The best thing is to have a good balance. I think [Marc-Andre] ter Stegen has a great mix of the two things. He is a very modern keeper.’

Simon may face Marc-Andre ter Stegen of Germany in Spain’s second game of the World Cup

He may face Ter Stegen in Spain’s second game against Germany. With Japan and Costa Rica also rivals it will not be easy for the Spanish in Qatar but it won’t faze them – they were a penalty shoot-out from the final at last year’s Euros and confidence is still high.

Penalty shoot-outs will doubtless be a key factor in Qatar and Simon will be well-prepared as he was at the Euros.

There is a picture that shows the forearm of Spain goalkeeping coach Jose Sambade with the names of the Swiss penalty takers written on it, ahead of the Euro 2020 quarterfinal.

The notes have the kicker’s surname, his number, and then ‘I’ for izqiuerdo (left), ‘D’ for derecho (right) and ‘M’ for medio (middle).

Simon had his own ‘cheat-sheet’ written on a piece of paper and neatly folded up into his towel. Alongside Fabian Schar’s name, he had written: ‘looks at the keeper’. It helped him save Schar’s kick.

He says: ‘I study penalties not just to know where they put them, but also how.’

The logic is that if a kicker looks only at the ball, it’s probably best to dive early. Whereas a player who looks at the keeper will see which way you are diving and adjust their kick, so it’s best to dive late.

He knows it’s not a full-proof method. ‘I remember against Italy at Wembley in the semi-final I was facing Andrea Belotti,’ he says. ‘I knew he hit the ball very hard and to which side and I dived early and even then I didn’t get there.’

Simon has revealed that he studies penalties, but there is an element of bluffing involved

There is an element of bluff in all this too. ‘The act of looking at my piece of paper, to certain extent, makes the player a little bit nervous. And the piece of paper I’m looking at could be blank!’ he says.

He is not a fan of this method to decide games by the way. ‘I would actually prefer one-on-ones,’ he says. ‘In youth football I remember we did that with the forward having eight seconds to score with a maximum of five touches. 

‘I would prefer almost any other situation but the rule is that the game goes to penalties so we have to work hard at it.’

His summer didn’t end with defeat to Italy. He won a silver medal at the Olympics beaten by Brazil 2-1 in the final – quite the gambit of emotions from the Pedri error to the podium in Japan.

‘I remember after the Euros and then the Olympics I went back to my village for a break, ridiculously happy, and my friends said to me: “So Unai how was your summer?”’ He jokes about his reply: ‘Well I didn’t do much’.

His friends, unimpressed by a silver medal and the Euros semi-final, help keep him grounded, not that he seems to need too much help. If he was able to keep his head after a howler like the one against Croatia, he can come through pretty much anything.

‘I’ve always thought that if we had ended up losing that game 1-0, even if I had gone on to play well, it would not be recognized in the same way,’ he says.

‘But the team played brilliantly and we ended up winning. The best way to forget was to just keep playing.’

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