Auston Trusty might be required to take penalties for the United States of America at this summer’s World Cup.
The Celtic defender is well equipped to do so if that moment arrives, and he has had recent success in a pressure game like no other.
Trusty successfully converted his spot-kick when Celtic beat Rangers on penalties in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup in March at Ibrox.
The hard-hitting defender explained the ‘crazy’ method behind his penalty for Celtic, which stems from being on USMNT duty, as he told Charlie Mulgrew on his YouTube channel.
“For Team USA, we have these guys that come in,” said Trusty.
“It’s actually sick. They strap our heads up with all these monitors and a heart. They have a sound machine on the side. They can measure flow state. You get into that mindset of, ‘I am locked in.’
“So, they strap you to this device, and you can hear on the side, say you put the ball down, you are walking back, and it’s like, ‘Arrrgh’. It’s going crazy. Going crazy.
“Then when you come here, deep breath, and you get into that zone. The sound will basically tell you when you are in that zone. You train yourself not to get out of that. You want to hear no sound. You want to hear, ‘hmmm’, the entire time.
“So, when I was walking up there (at Ibrox). Thankfully, I had that training because I was legit thinking the entire time, ‘Yes, there are all these people. You are shooting into a Rangers stand.’ The atmosphere and context of the game.
“But legit, it was like a movie set – it’s just you and the goalie – don’t hear or see anything. You are in that flow state – it’s crazy technology.”
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Auston Trusty reveals brilliant build-up to Celtic’s penalty shootout win over Rangers
Should Trusty be tasked with stepping up to the spot for the USMNT on the biggest stage, fans will know exactly the kind of immense pressure he is under and the meticulous approach he will use to handle it.
But Mauricio Pochettino, who is his international coach, probably won’t be drinking ‘pickle juice’ while handing out instructions to his players.
That’s exactly what O’Neill was doing at Ibrox moments before the shootout, as revealed by Trusty, who described it as ‘anti-cramp’ juice.
Each coach and team have their own ways of picking the penalty takers, and Trusty shared how he was told, to his surprise, that he would be going up second on that memorable and historic day.
Those calming methods, the Celtic centre-back is learning with his country, are paying off, because he proved his worth from the spot, but he isn’t exactly Arne Engels.
“Arne (Engels) is a very good penalty taker,” said Trusty. “Obviously, I have taken one penalty in my career. When we train, I am usually really, really good at pens. But I never got the opportunity to take one.
“When you are in a situation, that type of game to knock them out of the Scottish Cup, goes into the shootout. You go in, and I think they said, ‘Ox number one.’ I think the gaffer (Martin O’Neill is choosing the order of the spot-kicks against Rangers), so we go into the huddle.
“First of all, the gaffer is drinking pickle juice. I am thinking, ‘What is going on?’ Anti-cramp juice. Then they go, ‘Ox one. Auston two.’ I am thinking, ‘You said, Auston?! Auston two?’ I was like, ‘Oh, shoot.’ I am actually taking a pen. I am legit taking a pen. You just have to get into the mindset.”
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