England had a hard time against Switzerland in the quarter-finals of EURO 2024 and could only win a ticket to the next round after a series of brain-weighing "shooting matches". On the 11m mark, Gareth Southgate's students showed their mettle with 5 successful shots.
This is the first time in the history of the "Three Lions" that this has been done in major tournaments.
Witnessing this achievement, former defender Gary Neville did not hesitate to praise the seniors: I didnt think the players would be afraid when they stepped up to the penalty spot. This confirms that the current England team's character is much better than we have in the past."
The five penalty Takers for England are Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Ivan Toney, Trent Alexander-Arnold. They are all familiar faces on the 11m markers of top clubs such as Chelsea, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Brentford and Liverpool.
However, Neville warned the "Three Lions" to improve their playing style if they want to win against the Netherlands. In the quarter-final, Southgate started with a team of 3 central defenders, which helped them play balanced and easily neutralize Switzerland's attacks.
But in nearly 80 minutes of play, Harry Kane and his teammates did not have any shots on target.
England's knot was only neutralized when star Saka had a superb kick that hit the ball through the Swiss defense and left goalkeeper Yann Sommer completely helpless.
The England team has advanced to the EURO 2024 semi-finals with individual moments, from Bellingham's hook-taking against Slovakia in the 90+5 minute to Saka's superb shot. Therefore, many people are still skeptical about Southgate's playing style.
But strangely, the 53-year-old is the most successful player in the history of English football in major tournaments. He helped the country reach the 2018 World Cup semi-finals, reaching the EURO 2020 finals and the 2022 World Cup quarter-finals.
At EURO this year, the "Three Lions" still have a great chance to win the championship when participating in the round of 4 with the strongest teams. The "Three Lions" still have 2 difficult matches ahead to quench their title drought since the World Cup 1966,
