By unfortunate coincidence, tube stations are currently awash with adverts for John Kampfner’s 2020 release: “Why the Germans do it better.”
Kampfner might find sales of his book to be through the roof by 7pm this evening, should the English population be in soul-searching mood. Then again, perhaps England will win – or perhaps it won’t go to penalties at all.
The fact a shootout is being so widely prepared for is not only a defence mechanism to ward off the collective sorrow. A more optimistic reading would be that the two nations are fairly evenly matched, and it could well take more than 120 minutes to pick between them.
Should that dreaded phenomenon transpire, though, it is easy to imagine Joachim Low will not be too concerned by his “secret” list of penalty-takers being printed in the German press.
Bild have it that the 2014 world champions have already decided upon the five men who will step up. They are Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller, Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka and Kai Havertz, with Ilkay Gundogan (who is a doubt through injury), Marcel Halstenberg and Matthias Ginter next in line should it go to sudden death.
England have been dealing with a few leaks of their own. The teamsheet is purportedly out, with Bukayo Saka keeping his place, Jack Grealish losing his, and Mason Mount starting on the bench having spent the last 10 days isolated from the group.
Gareth Southgate, like Low, should not be too worried. There are questions over why, ahead of every match at this tournament, his starting XI has somehow emerged from the camp hours before kick-off, yet his reported shift to three at the back was not entirely unpredictable.
Southgate does not deal in superstition, either. He has ditched the old adage that you cannot practice penalties, that there can be no preparation for the long walk from the halfway line to the spot.
“We’ve obviously won our last two penalty shootouts,” Southgate pointed out on ITV. “So we have a process that works for us through that preparation and we’ve followed that same process.
“There’s a little bit more focus on it this week but we don’t start it this week as that would be too late, and also we didn’t want to make a bigger thing of it than it is. We created a process that works for us, we think the players understand that and we’ll be well prepared if it comes to that moment.”
Who could take England’s penalties?
England have plenty of candidates to take a penalty should they be feeling brave enough – spoiler: Jordan Henderson probably won’t be one of them – starting with the captain.
Harry Kane (Penalties scored for England: 11)
No England player in history has scored more penalties (11) for the Three Lions than Kane. While he hasn’t scored at the tournament so far, he has scored 45 times from the spot over the course of his career for club and country.
Marcus Rashford (Penalties scored for England: 4)
Rashford’s shoulder problem has confined him to a bit-part role at Euro 2020 so far. Southgate could introduce him with penalties in mind, as he boasts the second most prolific international record from the spot after Kane.
Raheem Sterling (Penalties scored for England: 2)
It’s well-documented that the Manchester City forward isn’t exactly unflappable from 12 yards – he’s missed 50 per cent of the eight penalties he’s taken for club and country – but he scored twice from open play in the group stages.
Mason Mount (Penalties scored for England: 0)
Mount has taken five penalties for Chelsea, scoring four, though he’s never been required to take one for England. The midfielder is likely to start on the bench due to his recent period of isolation after coming into contact with Billy Gilmour.
Kieran Trippier (Penalties scored for England: 1)
One of the big reasons Southgate has such an affinity with the Atletico Madrid full-back is the impact he had on the 2018 World Cup – which included scoring against Colombia.
More from i on Euro 2020
- England aren’t ‘rubbish’ and Southgate isn’t a ‘fraud’ – we just need a bit of patience
- What the Premier League could learn from Euro 2020’s controversy-free referees
- The football nomad who became a hero for his role in saving Eriksen’s life
- How Ronaldo’s Coca-Cola stunt could change the face of football sponsorship
- How to watch every Euro 2020 match on TV and online in the UK
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3dlgAHd
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