England are back in the knockout stage of a major soccer tournament, which usually means one thing: a strong chance of being involved in a penalty shootout.
That is bad news for England.
England have lost six of their seven shootouts in major tournaments since 1990, making it something of an unwanted tradition for the national team.
Photo: EPA
Players such as Stuart Pearce, Chris Waddle, Gareth Southgate and David Batty are as well-known for missing penalties for England than anything else they achieved in their careers.
England are to play Iceland in the round-of-16 at Euro 2016 in Nice, France, on Monday and England captain Wayne Rooney said the team has been practicing penalties after every training session at the tournament, treating it like a game scenario.
“We go through the rhythm which we would do in a game,” Rooney said. “Obviously it is different with the crowd and the pressure, but it is important for the players when you practice penalties to practice how you are going to do it [during a game].”
In practice, Rooney has been telling goalkeepers which way he is going to kick the ball, to make it more of a challenge.
“If he cannot save it and he knows which way I am going, then there is no worries,” he said.
England’s catalog of woe in penalty shootouts began at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, when Pearce had a penalty saved and Waddle blasted his over the bar in a semi-final loss to Germany.
At Euro 1996, which England hosted, they beat Spain on penalties in the quarter-finals — Pearce memorably scored one to partially make up for his failure in 1990 — but then lost in the semi-finals, again to Germany.
England lost on penalties to Argentina in the last 16 of the 1998 World Cup, to Portugal in the quarter-finals of both Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup, and then to Italy in the quarter-finals of Euro 2012.
Rooney scored his against Italy, but Ashley Young and Ashley Cole failed to score past Gianluigi Buffon as England made their familiar exit.
“The good thing about this squad now is I do not think there is one player who has been in a shootout and missed for England, who is in this squad,” Rooney said. “So that will not be hanging over any player.”
Rooney also gave an insight into the nerves and mind games involved in a shootout.
“I remember against Italy thinking: ‘I know which way I am going,’ and Buffon was actually pointing, telling me he knows I am going that way. He was right,” Rooney said, laughing. “So then I started thinking: ‘Shall I go the other way?’ But I ended up going the same way anyway and he dived the other way.”
“Just by a goalkeeper pointing one way, it can knock you off. It is nervous,” he added.
England are likely to be hoping they do not need to go to penalties against Iceland, the tiny island nation of 330,000 people that is the smallest nation to compete at Euro 2016.
Iceland arguably have been the surprise of the tournament, finishing their group unbeaten and above Portugal, but are to start as the underdogs against England.
Rooney watched Iceland beat the Netherlands in qualifying for Euro 2016.
“They were a very well-organized team and difficult to break down — similar to the games we have faced already in this tournament,” Rooney said, referring to England’s group matches against Russia, Wales and Slovakia. “We know it is going to be a tough game for us to break them down and it is important that we play at a really high tempo and make them work and try to tire them out, and then take the chances when they come.”
“We do have to be a bit more ruthless, in terms of chances we have had,” said England’s record scorer with 52 goals. “We have to take a few more of them.”
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