Only a slightly masochistic England fan would want the Euro 2024 final to go to penalties, with the King himself calling for manager Gareth Southgate to finish the game after 90 minutes.
We found ourselves in a similar situation three years ago and ended up losing, but England’s penalty training has improved since then and they have no fears if the match against Spain goes all the way to the finish, with one expert describing their penalty shootout preparation as the best in the world.
Parts of England’s game plan, particularly early in the tournament, have come under fair criticism, but their notorious 12-yard Achilles heel is better than ever. Southgate has been preoccupied with penalty shootouts since taking over in 2016. He immediately set up an 18-month task force tasked with ending England’s bad luck of losing six of their seven games on penalties.
Their work helped England beat Colombia in the last 16 of the 2018 World Cup, exorcising the demons of his own Euro 96 defeat, but defeat to Italy in the Euro 2020 final three years later brought old fears back.
Southgate knows better than anyone that penalty shootouts are not a lottery and his record of winning three of four shootouts is testament to the effort he demands to create small but crucial advantages over the opposition.
This was exemplified by England’s perfect penalty conversion against Switzerland, a unique milestone and the first time England had scored five goals from five in a penalty shootout.
Geir Jordet, professor of psychology and football at the Norwegian University of Sport Sciences, believes Southgate and his staff have created “the most powerful set-up in the world” from 12 yards out.
“They prepared, they made mistakes and they fixed those mistakes,” said Jaudet, who served on the FA task force eight years ago.
“England will be favourites to win any penalty shootout in this tournament because of their line-up and the quality of their penalty takers and goalkeepers. Who would have thought that a few years ago?”
“In my opinion, England has the strongest, most planned and organised system in the world.”
Of course, success is still not guaranteed: there’s no telling when the sandy penalty spot will produce its next victim, or when a goalkeeper with a particularly prophetic feel will have a good run of form.
England’s focus on controlling the controllable is something they have done better than any other team in the tournament and it has at least given them the platform to perform at their best.
When the whistle blew at the end of extra time against Switzerland last Saturday, Southgate fielded just 11 players, all of whom might have had to take penalties.
Unlike previous penalty shootouts, the remaining players and England’s backroom team were sent off.
This not only allowed him to speak directly to his players and inspire them, but also showed them a new side to their methodology: Each kicker was assigned a “buddy” who would welcome them back to the pack at the halfway line after a penalty kick and take the pressure collectively rather than alone.
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After Ivan Toney scored a no-look penalty against Switzerland, England had some fun with the Brentford striker at training camp.
The image of Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho walking alone 50 yards back to the centre circle after missing a kick in the Euro 2020 final was arguably what sparked the move.
Jode criticised England’s previous approach in his recent book, Pressure: Lessons from the Psychology of Penalty Shootouts, and suggested a less structured version of this new approach to the task force well before Euro 2020. Now, six years on, it appears to have been adopted.
“I think they were very process-oriented whether they scored or missed, and that’s something they learned from British hockey,” he said.
“To me, it’s a wasted opportunity to show a sense of togetherness, belonging, solidarity and support.
“Back in 2007 I worked across the team on getting players back in the centre circle and I put that to the FA taskforce but England didn’t adopt it in 2018 or 2021. Now they’ve taken it to the next level.”
England also had another trump card in the form of Jordan Pickford, but referee Daniele Orsato had doubts and threatened to show the goalkeeper a yellow card.
Pickford has handed the ball to England’s next penalty taker in every shootout under Southgate, but this time he was supposed to meet them on the edge of the box, escort them to the spot and provide a psychological two-on-one against Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer.
But the match was abandoned early amid fears of being penalised for unsportsmanlike conduct – “Maybe they didn’t get my accent”, the Sunderland native later laughed.
He is adept at bending the shootout rules and had already received a warning from Orsato for wasting time before Switzerland’s Manuel Akanji’s first penalty.
When the Manchester City defender missed a shot from 12 yards, it would have been nice if his team-mates had taken the same approach as England on the halfway line.
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Penalty decisions, tactical planning and England’s street sense were all topics discussed at manager Gareth Southgate’s press conference after the win over Switzerland.
While the Swiss players stood in the traditional arm-in-arm chain, the English players stood mainly in wide groups, avoiding the visual impression of an “us versus you” situation, as was the case when the kicker returned from the 18-yard box.
That added pressure may not have made the difference in England’s disappointment in 2021, but it’s these little things that add up to make a big difference.
With scapegoats needed after Italy’s defeat, the decision to bring on Rashford and Sancho just seconds before the end of extra time dominated much of the frustrated analysis.
Southgate was not going to make the same mistake twice and the seven and 13 minutes played by Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ivan Toney before Saturday’s penalty shootout didn’t do much physically but they made a difference psychologically.
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Captain Harry Kane praised Bukayo Saka’s mental strength after taking a penalty in England’s win over Switzerland.
“Rashford and Sancho have been out of rhythm in 2021,” Jordetto said, “as if they’re not part of the team.”
“The rest of the team has taken us to the penalty shootout, now it’s their turn to perform and reward their teammates. The pressure is on.”
“The key to solving this problem is to give the players more game time and to some extent Southgate has done that.”
Now the secret is out, and Spain will have eight days to figure out how to thwart this carefully planned plan on the spot, if it gets to that point.
But while England are reassured they have prepared as much as they can beforehand, will it be enough?
