Gareth Southgate learnt his lesson after missing at Euro 96 and has instilled a belief into his players to help them find the net from 12 yards.
“Terry Venables and Bryan Robson came towards me,” Southgate wrote in his autobiography about the 1996 miss.
“‘Gareth, if it goes to six, will you take one?’ It hit me like a bolt from the blue. ‘Yeah, if you want me to take one, I’ll take one.’ About 30 seconds later Bryan returned. ‘Gareth, have you taken one before?’ ‘Yeah, Robbo,’ I said.
“With the shoot-out minutes away and tension mounting, Bryan didn’t ask for details. Suited me. My penalty career had been brief: one missed effort for Palace three seasons previously. I reassured myself that the sixth man was rarely needed. But once it got to 4-4, it was obvious the script had been written and I was part of it. Stefan Kuntz made it 5-5, and the wait was over.
“I didn’t look around, didn’t speak to anyone. I was the sixth man. It was my turn, nobody had forced me to volunteer. Inside my head, the struggle had already begun: ‘You can deal with this. Be definite, look confident, don’t change your mind, don’t look at the keeper, don’t fall over.’ Suddenly there was an eerie quietness around the stadium. I sensed the reason for it. ‘Who is it? Who is it?’ the crowd was thinking.”
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