When Packie Bonner stood on his goal line on June 25th 1990 in Genoa, he had already had a trial run at penalties in a crucial setting.
Just 44 days earlier, his Celtic had been engaged in a tense shootout with Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup final, only to lose 9-8.
But defeat was not in vain from an Irish perspective as Bonner was directly influenced by that defeat when Ireland faced Romania in the World Cup.
It's something he spoke to me about on this week's Newstalk Team 33, also detailing how he and Ireland No 2 keeper Gerry Peyton studied penalty-taking and working out how the angle the shooter arrives at the ball at can tell a goalkeeper which way to go far more often - as eventually happened against Romania.
"It first meant we had to come up with a better plan and that was what my conversation with Gerry was about," Bonner said of the influence of the 1990 Scottish Cup decider.
"Even though it was a negative at the time with Celtic, it allowed me to then properly prepare for the World Cup."
Watch the 1990 Scottish Cup final shootout right here:
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