England still have a long way to go to lose the fear from the penalty spot
If England had won the Euro 2020 from this process, nobody would still care about the numbers at all. It would have been erased from everyone's minds the fact that there is a clear problem when it comes to penalty shoutout. Ahead of the 2024 European Championship, England should know that whenever they find themselves on this occasion, the weight of history will once again be heavy...
By KONSTANTINOS ZALIARIS
The squad has already travelled to Germany since Monday afternoon, with the "three lions" first game at this year's Euro 2024 scheduled for Sunday night against Serbia.
Southgate commented that in all probability he will leave the job, if the big success does not come. The last friendly of preparation against Iceland was a great opportunity for awakening.
The issue of penalties and the performance of the national team, days like this before major tournaments always comes back to the surface and it is happening again now.
The most recent success in the penalty shootout was the Nations League game, in September 2019 with a 6-5 win over Switzerland to take 3rd place.
The last experience was one of the most painful, after it came to "Wembley", in the summer of 2021, in the lost final of the Euro against Italy. Where the destruction that took place by the fans that battled the security guys and found their way into the stadium without tickets, made the Wembley officials wish that the "three lions" would be defeated in order to avoid a possible, very bad situation.
At World Cup level, in 2018, England managed to overcome the obstacle of the Colombians in the "16" with the 5-4 from the penalty spot.
Combining the tournaments in which England national team has been called upon to claim qualification, either at the Euros or at the World Cup from the "Russian roulette", the success rate is just 22.2%, while the internationals convert their penalties into goals in rate of 64.4%.
In total, in the 9 times they have been on the white ball in the two biggest competitions of national teams, they have only 2 victories (quarter-finals Euro 2016, round of 16 World Cup 2018) and 29 successful penalties in 45 attempts...