- England beat Switzerland 5-4 in a penalty shootout at Euro 2024 on Saturday
- That came 1,121 days after England lost on penalties to Italy in the Euro 2020 final.
- LISTEN It’s all just getting started! EUROS DAILY: Gareth Southgate has gone a bit of a rebel… and his mask has fallen
Alan Shearer was deeply impressed with the attitude shown by England’s players during Saturday’s penalty shoot-out against Switzerland.
England won 5-4 on penalties after the Euro 2024 quarter-final ended 1-1 after 120 minutes.
This was the fourth penalty shoot-out England have been involved in since Gareth Southgate became head coach in 2016.
England have won three such shoot-outs: against Colombia at the 2018 World Cup, against Switzerland in the 2019 Nations League final and then against the same opponents at the European Championship on Saturday.
But the Three Lions lost 4-3 to Italy on penalties in the Euro 2020 final.
Two of the three English players who missed against Italy had only been on the pitch a few seconds before the shoot-out: Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were substituted in added time at the end of extra time.
On Saturday, Southgate again made changes with penalties in mind. However, this time he made them earlier, allowing players like Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold to have multiple touches of the ball before reaching the penalty spot.
Former England captain Shearer, who was involved in three penalty shoot-outs during his international career, winning one and losing two, was quick to praise Southgate for adjusting his approach.
Shearer told Betfair: “England’s penalties had everything, great attitude, great spot-kicks, you have to include everything. Even (goalkeeper) Jordan Pickford with the way he had gone about his task. Pickford and the penalty takers made it look like a piece of cake, but it never is.
“I can’t explain the pressure and stress you feel when a game goes to penalties. Every single penalty was almost perfect. Watching Ivan Toney’s penalty, he just looked at the goalkeeper and didn’t even look at the ball. It takes a brave person to do that.
‘One thing Gareth Southgate was criticised for against Italy at Euro 2020 was that he brought his penalty takers on with just a couple of minutes left, while giving players like Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold plenty of time to get involved in the game, so I think Gareth learned from his mistakes there.
“It worked perfectly, but I think there is still a lot to be done in terms of performance.”
England will now face the Netherlands on Wednesday, with the winner of that match advancing to Sunday’s final against Spain or France.
Commenting on Wednesday’s game, Shearer added: “It will be a wonderful occasion. The fans in Dusseldorf were amazing. My son came to watch the game with his friends and said it was a fantastic atmosphere.”
“The England fans have been amazing and they will be amazing on Wednesday. I’m not against England at all. I think they will find a way to improve and they will be able to improve their performance.”
“It could be another long and stressful night, but I think England will win this time.”
