England have suffered plenty of penalty shootout heartache but showed composure to seal a Euro 2024 semifinal place in a spot-kick battle with Switzerland on Saturday to prove their improvement from 12 yards under manager Gareth Southgate.
There was not much to enthuse over in the 120 minutes as the teams played to a 1-1 draw in Duesseldorf, and ahead of the shootout England may have had flashbacks to the Euro 2020 final at Wembley when they lost to Italy in another shattering defeat.
But Southgate, driven by his own personal failure, has worked to improve the mentality of his team in shootouts, and they netted all five kicks against the Swiss with confidence.
It was another step forward in banishing a demon that has followed England for 34 years since the semifinal of the 1990 World Cup when they lost on spot-kicks to West Germany.
Saturday's win in Duesseldorf was England’s third shootout success at the World Cup or Euros in 10 attempts. Some of those losses have become engrained in the nation's football psyche.
After the heartache of Italia 90, the Germans inflicted another semifinal shootout disappointment at Euro 96, when Southgate missed England’s sixth kick as his side were knocked out at Wembley.
His personal heartbreak was repeated when England lost five shootouts in a row in major competitions and when he became manager of the side in 2016, Southgate made it his ambition to change the mentality of the team around penalties.
He recognised it was not a lack of ability, but a mental battle and something that could be improved through changing how the team trains.
In the pressure-filled moment of the taking the penalty, with tired legs and the weight of a nation on their shoulders, it was as much about how they would deal with the situation as a test of skill.
"All I wanted was the ball: put it on the spot, get it over and done with," Southgate said of his 1996 experience.
He knew he needed his players more focused in the moment and England finally ended their run of shootout losses when they beat Columbia 4-3 in the last 16 at the 2018 World Cup.
Gareth Southgate’s record as England manager:
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) July 6, 2024
100 games
61 wins
23 draws
16 losses
Underrated? 🧠pic.twitter.com/EyZ3JIESn8
TRAINING TECHNIQUE
Southgate had made his tired players practise penalties over and over at the end of training sessions, trying to replicate what their legs may feel like after 120 minutes of a game.
He tried to improve their technique and made them more confident of trusting their ability to pick the right spot and not worry about which way the goalkeeper would go.
Place the ball where the keeper cannot get it, even if he guesses right.
He asked the players to slow down their process once the referee blew his whistle for the penalty to be taken and not rush.
Since the win over Colombia, England lost to Italy three years ago, but the victory over Switzerland was their second in three shootouts at major tournaments under Southgate.
If you include the shootout win over the Swiss in the Nations League, that is three in four, a 75 per cent success rate.
"We've been in four (shootouts) and have won three. We got absolutely crucified for the one we lost," Southgate said.