We'll stay on target! England are prepared for anything, insists Roy… even penalties
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UPDATED:
22:13 GMT, 20 June 2012
If there is a crumb of comfort, something that Roy Hodgson can use as a motivational tool over the next few days, the Italians are almost as bad at penalties as the English.
England's manager might not put it quite like that and he might have to focus more on the 1994 World Cup final than the one that followed 12 years later but the Italians choke, the English choke. Four out of six defeats plays five out of six. No need to panic.
Those members of the England squad who were in Munich recently can share their stories of how the Germans are capable of choking, too. Some of the same Germans that England might yet meet in the semi-finals should both teams progress from the last eight.
Well earned rest: Roy Hodgson salutes fans in Krakow a day after England's victory over Ukraine
Players like Bastian Schweinsteiger will probably be terrified to take one. Ashley Cole, unlike a previous England left back, will not. Cole might also add that Sunday’s referee, Pedro Proenca, is the same Portuguese official who took charge of Chelsea’s Champions League final success. The omens are good.
Hodgson acknowledged in the early hours of Wednesday that the burden of history always weighs heavily on the shoulders of England’s players at a major tournament, particularly when there are English players at this European Championship with painful memories of those games against Portugal in 2004 and 2006.
But Hodgson has developed this knack for easing the pressure on his players and he did so again when it came to discussing a national phobia.
Here in Eastern Europe Hodgson has managed to set the right tone; cut through the hysteria that can often develop in these situations; be a calming influence.
Pen pals: Scott Parker signs autographs for fans outside England's Stary Hotel in Krakow
Asked about penalties, he said: ‘We have practised already. We have used the time after training sessions to practise regularly.
‘We’ll obviously take it even more seriously now. But you well know, you can practise penalty shootouts until the cows come home; it’s really your composure, your confidence, your ability to really block everything out and forget the occasion that means you score or you don’t score.
‘Having said that, you practise them and you hope that one day it will make a big difference. But in my experience it comes down to the strength of mind of the individual. And sometimes we’ve seen the best players miss and the players you think are not penalty takers smash them in.’
Hodgson claims to have been fairly successful in such situations in the past. ‘I’ve done it with other clubs in other countries before,’ he said. ‘I’ve done it with Italians as well, so I’m quite good at it.’
But he recognises the sheer sense of dread that engulfs a nation when a knock-out match moves towards the end of extra time.
‘It’s because we’ve lost important matches on penalties so it’s going to be that way,’ he said. ‘When you are working with the England team the past is always going to weigh heavily because everything we do today is being compared with something that happened in the past.
Out and about: England captain Steven Gerrard leaves the team hotel in Krakow on Wednesday
‘Classic example: was their (Ukraine’s) goal over the line If it was, does it pay back something that happened four years ago or eight years ago
‘That’s where we are and, unfortunately, we have lost two very important semi-finals on penalties, so I presume that’s going to be there during all my time as national coach and probably, when a national coach comes 20 years hence, he will be asked the same question as well.’
Gary Neville spoke recently of the benefit of now having a goalkeeper like Joe Hart; someone capable of making important penalty saves.
It might also be to Hodgson’s advantage that some of his players can draw on the positive experience of a 5-4 shootout victory over Sweden in the semi-finals of the European Under 21 Championship in Gothenburg in 2009. James Milner missed that day but Theo Walcott and Hart scored and the keeper saved one, too.
Credit has to go to Stuart Pearce for that. He drilled them every day on penalties during that tournament and Hodgson clearly agrees with such an approach.
Warming up: The Italy squad in training session at Marshal Juzef Pilsudski Stadium in Krakow
The England manager might also be pleased to hear that John Terry would be happy enough to take one, despite what happened in Moscow in 2008. ‘John will step up to the plate,’ said a close friend and, in fairness to Terry, he missed against Manchester United only because he slipped.
There is something else England appear to have developed in the short time Hodgson has been in charge. As it was put to Hodgson, a useful combination of ‘courage, fortitude and discipline’.
‘Whatever level you are playing at, if you don’t possess a lot of the qualities you are talking about you are not going to go very far,’ he said. ‘In this group we wouldn’t have had any chance at all.
‘What you hope, of course, is that you will also be more effective on the counter-attack than we perhaps were against Ukraine.
‘But I think, in that respect, we were somewhat hampered by the fact that we knew the Sweden score; we knew that a draw would be enough to win us the group. Even if it happens subconsciously, it does put the brakes on you a bit.’
Game for a laugh: Mario Balotelli jokes around with a corner flag during training
Italy, fellow residents here in Krakow, present a different challenge to Hodgson. It is now about players of the quality of Andrea Pirlo and Daniele De Rossi, Antonio Cassano and Mario Balotelli.
‘I know some of the players, of course, but, quite frankly, our preparation for Italy starts now,’ he said. ‘I’ve seen them play but I haven’t studied them and how good they are yet. I watched the game between Spain and Croatia rather than between Italy and Ireland probably because I was thinking Spain were a possible opponent.
‘But this comes down to how you go about your business with the players on a daily basis — the professional business of training and preparing for matches.’
England will certainly be prepared for penalties.
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