- England score perfect five-for-five in 5-3 shootout victory over Switzerland
- Trent Alexander-Arnold scored the penalty to send England to the semi-finals
- LISTEN to It’s All Kicking Off! EUROS DAILY: Harry Kane has to come out of the England XI – it’s holding them back and it’s time for Ivan Toney or Ollie Watkins
Trent Alexander-Arnold has revealed that practice made perfect for England in their penalty shootout victory over Switzerland in the European Championship semi-finals.
The Liverpool star came off the bench in the second-half of extra-time to take a penalty during the shootout.
The 25-year-old smashed the decisive spot-kick into the top left corner after Manuel Akanji missed Switzerland’s first penalty, with Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer sent completely the wrong way.
Alexander-Arnold had been brought on by Gareth Southgate specifically to take a penalty, a decision which paid dividends as he scored the decisive spot-kick after Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Ivan Toney all scored.
‘It’s what we practice, a lot of practice goes into that moment. They are moments I enjoy. When the gaffer tells me I’m taking one, my belly doesn’t drop, I enjoy it, I practice it,’ he said.
‘I knew my spot, I knew I needed to execute it, I went out and did that. All five penalties were great.’ Alexander-Arnold smashes the decisive final penalty kick into the top left corner
The Liverpool star said that ‘practice’ was crucial to England’s perfect penalty shootout
Alexander-Arnold said he ‘enjoys’ the pressure of penalty shootouts and that his ‘belly doesn’t drop’ in those high risk moments after his penalty sent England into the Euros semi-finals
‘I knew my spot, I knew I needed to execute it, I went out and did that. All five penalties were great.’
England now face a semi-final showdown against a Netherlands side that features Alexander-Arnold’s Liverpool teammates Cody Gakpo and Virgil van Dijk. After overcoming the penalty shoot-out, Alexander-Arnold was under no illusions about just how close these knockout games can be.
‘Both quarter-finals on Friday went to extra time too. These games are tight margins but we’ve been able to win.
‘These are the goals and aims we set for ourselves. It was a difficult opponent again, going behind. The team showed a lot of character, a lot of belief and heart and spirit. We dug deep when it mattered most.
‘We knew it was going to be tight, we were never going to run away with the game, although that would have been nice.’
The 25-year-old celebrated with friends and family after the match – and was overheard saying ‘he didn’t want to take one’ in a video which has gone viral.
His comment has raised debate over who didn’t want to take a penalty with fans honing in on two players who they think Alexander-Arnold was talking about: England captain Harry Kane and Man City star Phil Foden.
A labouring Kane didn’t take a penalty as he appeared to suffer from cramp in extra-time and was subbed off by Gareth Southgate for Toney who scored his spot kick in his typically nonchalant style.
Gareth Southgate backed Alexander-Arnold’s mettle to take to the decisive penalty kick
A substituted Kane rushed onto the field to embrace Alexander-Arnold after his penalty and later praised the ‘proven penalty takers’ in England’s squad for stepping up when needed
Watching on from the sideline, England’s usual penalty taker Kane recognised the nervousness of the situation and praised the seasoned penalty takers in the squad for staying calm:
‘There were a few hearts skipping a beat out there. It was another tough game. It was great resilience from the lads, to go behind with 15 minutes to go and to turn it up a gear and get the goal like we did.
‘The difference between this year and past years is that we’ve got proven penalty takers with Ivan Toney, Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka. We had a lot more experience in that sense and they showed it out there.’
