It’s remarkable that Penders has become a specialist with his feet given it used to be his weakness.

When Genk first scouted Penders from Sint-Jan Berchmans College, alongside his games for grassroots club Bregel Sport, his ability on the ball was his Achilles’ heel.

“One of the teachers recommended him to me,” Roex, who recently left Genk, added. “When I saw him, he had a great profile, he played well and he had a great mentality. But technically, he needed a lot of work.

“At that time, his feet were terrible because he was so tall. But he passed the trial for our under-14s when he was 13.”

Roex says he has “never seen a player improve so quickly between the ages of 13 and 18” because of Penders’ “unbelievable mentality” and his “inability to feel pressure” – qualities he insists remain evident today.

He added: “In the beginning he struggled a lot, but he worked very hard. We did footwork for at least 20 minutes in every session with our goalkeepers.

“He reads the game very well, which is essential because playing out from the back is not just about technique, but decision-making – understanding space, pressure and timing.”

Nearly 20 years after helping develop the 6ft 7in Courtois along with fellow Genk goalkeeping coach Guy Martens, Roex said that Penders – who is the same height as Courtois – bears similarities to the former Chelsea goalkeeper, now a Real Madrid and Belgium great.

“Guy and I shared the same vision,” Roex explained. “We believed football was changing and that goalkeepers needed to be comfortable with their feet. We implemented that philosophy throughout the academy, although there was initially some resistance from coaches.

“Part of our vision came from Ajax and Johan Cruyff’s goalkeeping coach, Frans Hoek. He was a visionary who later worked with Barcelona and the Dutch national team.

“We were also early adopters of filming goalkeeping sessions, using tapes and simple editing software. We wanted to expose goalkeepers as young as 16 to the first-team environment.

“We produced Courtois and Penders, but also Koen Casteels, Martin van der Voordt at RB Leipzig, Kiaba Brughmans and Nordin Jackers, who is now at Club Brugge.”

Roex believes Penders’ calm demeanour comes from his close, stable family unit and having grown up in the small village of Maasmechelen just outside of Genk.

“We have produced a lot of great goalkeepers, but Mike is the one with the potential to reach the same level as Thibaut, his sense of calmness is gold in goalkeeping.”

Live scores, team news, text commentary, analysis from Saturdays’ Nations Championship Tests; New Zealand host Ireland at Eden Park (8.10am kick-off); South Africa vs Wales follows (4.40pm kick-off); Argentina host England in final Test (8.10pm kick-off), days after FIFA World Cup meeting

Some NFL players have started a social media campaign to support a call by their players union for more permanent grass fields following the World Cup.

Seven NFL stadiums in the US had grass fields installed for the duration of the tournament to meet the demands of organisers Fifa.

They are set to revert to artificial turf after the World Cup, despite 92% of NFL players preferring natural grass,, external according to the NFL Players Association (NFLPA).

Data shows, external that “artificial turf is significantly harder on the body than grass”.

Fifteen of the NFL’s 30 regular stadiums use grass, with the other half using artificial turf. One of the reasons for artificial turf is the increased cost to maintain grass.

Dozens of NFL players have posted messages with #WorthTheCost, including Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, who said: “Why can’t we have this too?”

Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor said: “Natural grass isn’t out of reach. Prioritizing players shouldn’t be either.”

Green Bay Packers linebacker Zaire Franklin said: “The cost of doing nothing is paid for by players’ bodies. Make grass mandatory.”

An NFLPA statement issued just before the World Cup read: “It’s no longer a question of capability; the technology exists, the expertise exists and the resources exist to install the high-level grass fields that our players overwhelmingly prefer.

“We have seen the meaningful investments made to meet the standard for international athletes and global events.

“NFL players – who regularly compete on these fields, help fund these stadiums and whose work makes the league what it is today – deserve the same commitment to quality grass fields.”