DURBAN: Germany and Spain both claim they have not been practising penalties ahead of their World Cup semi-final on Wednesday.

"You can`t plan for penalties, every coach would want to win over 90 minutes or 120 minutes and wouldn`t want the stress of penalties," said Germany coach Joachim Loew.

"There`s no point practising because when it comes to it there`s so much pressure on the players, you possibly have to take the most important kick of your life.

"There`s no point trying to simulate that. We`ve got excellent penalty takers, they`ve showed it in other tournaments.

"We`ve got excellent players who have the nerve to stand tall and live up to the task. There`s no point in practising, we`ll try to win in normal time."

Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso said they don`t even know who would take the penalties should a shoot-out be required.

"We`ve not practised anything in particular, we`ve not even talked about who would take them," he said. "We`ll see in the match tomorrow."

Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque said it isn`t even up to him and he believes the players will make the decision if and when the time comes.

"I guess they will decide themselves. The usual suspects will be taking the penalties," he said.

"It`s less under the direction of the coach. I am a very lucky person but I will not go deeper into this matter."

BDST: 0040hrs, July 7, 2010