England’s penalty shootout victory over Switzerland in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 was very meaningful for the Three Lions team – the nickname for the England National Team. England is now increasingly confident in pursuing their first title in the European Cup.
That’s right. England, which is said to have the best football competition in Europe and has many top players, has never won the European Cup. Since making its debut in the European Cup in 1968, England’s best achievement was ‘only’ reaching the final. Finalist.
Every time the Euro event starts, England fans always shout the spirit of “Football Coming Home”. However, the slogan that hopes England will win has never come true. England, which is said to be the home and mother of football, has never or perhaps has never welcomed the return of ‘the child’ back home at the European Cup.
One of the ‘walls’ that prevents England from ever winning the European Cup is the penalty shootout. For some reason, England, who have players who are reliable penalty takers at their clubs, but when they become executors at the Euro, their legs seem heavy.
Check out the following facts. England lost 5-6 on penalties to Germany in the Euro 1996 semifinals at home after a 1-1 draw. Do you know who the England penalty taker was who failed in the match played at Wembley Stadium?
It was Gareth Southgate, Aston Villa’s mainstay defender at the time, who is now England’s coach. Then, at Euro 2004 which was held in Portugal, England lost on penalties to the hosts in the quarter-finals after a 2-2 draw until the end of extra time.
Next, England lost 2-4 on penalties to Italy in the iconic Euro 2012 quarter-finals with Andrea Pirlo’s Panenka kick. The situation repeated itself at Euro 2020. England was again involved in a penalty shootout against Italy.
This time it was even more annoying for England supporters. Because, England was one step away from becoming European champions at home.
Yes, it is still fresh in the memory when England was defeated by Italy 2-3 on penalties in the Euro 2020 final. In fact, England had taken an early lead before being equalized 1-1 by Italy.
Then, in the penalty shootout, three England kickers, namely Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Bukayo Saka, failed to carry out their duties. England cried at home. England is now more confident in facing penalty shootouts.
Now, England seems to have learned a lot from their mistakes and bitter experiences in the past in penalty shootouts. It was seen when England defeated Switzerland on penalties in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024.
The penalty shootout determined which team would advance to the semifinals of Euro 2024 after the two teams drew 1-1 until the end of extra time.
In the match played at the Dusseldorf Arena, England dominated the match and dominated ball possession through mobile play from Kobbie Mainoo and Declan Rice.
However, just like in previous matches, England struggled to create good opportunities. Several players who are known to be good at long-range shooting, such as Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham, have not been able to use their ‘moves’.
In fact, Switzerland scored first through Breel Domald Embolo in the 75th minute. England then equalized the score through a curved kick along the ground from Bukayo Saka in the 80th minute.
The 1-1 score lasted until the end of the match. Even so, it remained unchanged until the end of extra time. Actually, Switzerland was confident in facing the penalty shootout because they had Yann Sommer. The 35-year-old goalkeeper who plays for Inter Milan is known to be good at penalties.
Yann Sommer became Switzerland’s hero when he eliminated France 5-4 on penalties in the last 16 of Euro 2020.
However, England was apparently very prepared to face the penalty shootout this time. They were not afraid to face Yann Sommer. England got the first chance. Cole Palmer, Chelsea’s penalty expert who had just been played in the second half, was the first kicker. Coolly, Cole Palmer managed to complete his task after tricking Yann Sommer.
Meanwhile, Switzerland’s first kicker, Manuel Akanji, failed. The Manchester City defender’s kick was blocked by Jordan Pickford, the England goalkeeper.
Then, the media reported that Pickford had a cheat sheet in his water bottle. Dive left, aka moving while dropping his body to the left. That’s what the cheat sheet said. And it turned out to be true. Akanji’s kick was in that direction.
Akanji seemed to scream in frustration. Understandably, at the 2020 European Cup, he also failed in a penalty shootout when Switzerland lost to Spain in the quarter-finals.
After that, three English kickers, namely Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, and Ivan Toney, managed to beat Yann Sommer.
Three Swiss kickers, Fabian Schar, Xherdan Shaqiri, and Mohamed Zeki Amdouni also succeeded in carrying out his duties. The score was still 4-3 for England until the fourth kicker.
Until finally, Trent Alexander Arnold as England’s fifth kicker, tricked Yann Sommer into moving in the wrong direction.
So, The Three Lions England won the penalty shootout 5-3 and advanced to the semifinals of Euro 2024. Next, England vs Netherlands in the semifinals.
“Best England penalty performance I’ve ever seen,” said an England supporter in a comment on the official Instagram account of the England National Team.
One of the happiest players in England’s penalty shootout victory was Bukayo Saka. Not only because he was chosen as man of the match in this match.
Bukayo Saka was the penalty taker who failed in the Euro 2020 final. In fact, he was the last kicker. Now, he has managed to recover his mentality.
“This is a special victory. The last time we had a penalty shootout at the Euros, we all know what happened. I always believed I could come back from that situation. So I took the chance and I’m very happy now,” said Saka.
Now, England is one step closer to returning to the European Cup final. Back to back finals. However, England must first pass the Netherlands in the semifinals which will be played in Dortmund, July 10, 2024.
The Netherlands qualified for the semifinals without a penalty shootout. The Orange Team was able to win consecutively in 90 minutes. Virgil van Dijk and his friends won 3-0 over Romania in the last 16. Then beat Turkey 2-1 in the quarter-finals.
The Netherlands even became the only semifinal team to qualify without going through extra time. This is proof that the Netherlands is better than England in terms of taking advantage of opportunities.
However, if the semifinals are later determined by a penalty shootout because both teams drew until extra time, England has better provisions than the Netherlands.
Yes, England is now no longer worried about facing a penalty shootout.
ASL
