‘It’s impossible not to remember it’ – Rodrygo Goes haunted by penalty miss

Real Madrid forward Rodrygo Goes in enjoying a good season with Los Blancos, but like several of his teammates, has had to deal with a major setback in the middle of the season. In his case, the heartbreak of exiting the World Cup with Brazil was particularly accute.

The 22-year-old came off the bench against Croatia for teammate Vinicius Junior, and helped to Brazil into 1-0 lead before Bruno Petkovic levelled things up. During the penalty shootout, Rodrygo missed a penalty, and has not taken one since, despite various opportunities where he might have.

Speaking to La Liga, in an interview carried by MD, Rodrygo admitted that the penalty miss plays on his mind.

“Well, I try not to remember it, but it’s impossible. It’s a bit sad because I had been having an excellent World Cup, I had been playing very well every game and then a penalty kick changed that a bit.”

Naturally, as tends to be the case with elite athletes, the ability to move past adversity is something ingrained in Rodrygo.

“But of course, you have to continue, you don’t have to think in that and we have to continue doing things well, train more with penalties because I know that soon I will take penalties again, because it is something that I do well and I know that they are going to need me and I have to be ready for it.”

Real Madrid have two potentially high pressure situations are on the horizon. In the Champions League, they face Liverpool over two legs, and shortly after will play Barcelona in the Copa del Rey semi-final too.