The Crystal Palace defender got into his opponents’ heads with his comments in the decisive moment
Crystal Palace full-back Daniel Munoz has revealed what he told Erling Haaland during the FA Cup final when the Norwegian passed up the chance to take a penalty. Teammate Omar Marmoush was the one to step up to the spot, only for it to end in disappointment for Pep Guardiola’s side.
Palace were already 1-0 up in the first half thanks to a lightning-quick counter-attack finished by Eberechi Eze and assisted by Munoz himself. But City were handed a lifeline after Bernardo Silva was brought down in the box by Tyrick Mitchell.
Haaland, who has been City’s primary penalty taker and leading goalscorer, was the obvious candidate to level the score. Instead, he handed the ball to Marmoush, who saw his effort saved by Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson.
During an Instagram livestream, Munoz revealed what he told Haaland before the spot-kick.
“I asked him why he didn’t take the penalty, since he was the team’s top scorer,” Munoz said. “And he told me that his team-mate was also a good kicker. So, I told him, ‘If you don’t take the penalty, he’ll miss.’ And he missed.”
Haaland has been criticised for passing up the high-pressure opportunity, most notably by Manchester United winger Wayne Rooney, who said: “Maybe the thought of taking a penalty at Wembley might have been too much for him”.
Rooney also said that it showed the psychological gap between a player like Haaland and the world’s greatest players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. “Erling Haaland is a world-class forward, but when we are talking about Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, there is no way they are giving that ball away,” he had said.
