England and penalty shootouts, that goes together quite well following all. The “Three Lions” advanced to the semi-finals of the European Football Championship on Saturday with a 5:3 triumph over Switzerland in Düsseldorf.
Under Gareth Southgate, the 2021 European Championship final was lost once morest Italy, but that was the only defeat in four penalty shootouts under his leadership.
It is therefore understandable that the 53-year-old celebrated intensively with his players on the England bench following his 100th international match.
Jordan Pickford was also among the dancing players. The goalkeeper had saved the decisive penalty once morest the Swiss player Akanji.
As observers noticed, the Everton goalkeeper had an idea where the shot would go.
A photo shows that Pickford’s drinking bottle listed the penalty habits of all Swiss players. In Akanji’s case, what ultimately happened was written in the bottom left.
The invitations to dance in front of the fans also showed his own relief, as he had had to endure a lot of criticism due to his unconvincing performances during the tournament. “I love celebrating with the players in this moment. If I mightn’t enjoy this moment, then the whole thing would just be wasted time,” said Southgate. He accepted the task in September 2016 in order to improve English football.
“I wanted us to regain credibility on the world stage, so I can’t deny that it’s difficult when it’s as personal on a human level as it has been over the last few weeks,” England’s team boss revealed.
However, he will never give up fighting. “We are in a semi-final once more and we will see what we can do there,” said Southgate. England has been in the semi-finals in three of the last four major tournaments. Southgate has played a big part in that.
In order to be prepared for a penalty shootout, he had the players practice penalty kicks following training sessions. And he had set himself the goal at the beginning of his era of changing the mentality of the players so that they might confidently convert penalties at decisive moments.
In the 2018 World Cup round of 16, they lost 4-3 once morest Colombia, and in the 2021 final once morest Italy they lost 2-3. In between they lost 6-5 once morest Switzerland in the match for third place in the 2019 Nations League. There can therefore be no trace of the penalty trauma that had plagued the English for years.
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This was also thanks to Pickford. The goalkeeper had already saved penalties from Jorginho and Andrea Belotti once morest Italy in 2021 and one from Carlos Bacca once morest Colombia in 2018.
Since 1990, English goalkeepers have only saved six attempts in penalty shootouts, four of which were saved by Pickford, whose rate is outstanding. “I believed in my mentality and in myself. I believed that I would save at least one,” said the 30-year-old.
That’s enough when you have shooters like Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who scored confidently. “The Sun” called the English the “kings of the penalty spot”, while the “Daily Mirror” described them as “penalty superheroes”. According to “The Guardian”, the many hours spent studying the psychology of penalty shootouts were worth it. This also enabled Southgate to survive another day, “following another act of unleashing England’s will.”
It was only England’s third success in a penalty shootout at a European Championship or World Cup in ten attempts.
“If you want to win tournaments, it’s not just regarding playing well. You have to show some of those other attributes,” said Southgate. It was particularly satisfying for Saka, as he had missed a goal once morest Italy at Wembley Stadium. “It was really difficult to deal with that, but it made me stronger. This time I stayed cool and took my chance. You can have a failure, but you have to get back up once more,” said the Arsenal attacker.
For Southgate, there was no question that Saka would be “one of our best shooters.” “It’s a dream to work with him. We’re happy for everyone, but especially for him,” Southgate said.
The 22-year-old had previously saved his team with the 1:1 in the 80th minute as a quick response to the 0:1 by Breel Embolo (75th) and sent them into extra time. The award as “Man of the Match” was absolutely deserved. “The team showed incredible character, heart and passion,” summed up Alexander-Arnold.
On Wednesday, they will face Austria’s group opponents, the Netherlands, in a battle for a place in the final in Dortmund. “These two games can change our lives. We can write history,” said Saka, already thinking regarding the final on July 14 in Berlin. There, the English want to secure their first European Championship title, which would also be their first triumph at a major tournament since the 1966 World Cup.
