‘We’re prepared for penalties’, says Gareth Southgate ahead of knockout clash against Senegal

England manager Gareth Southgate believes his team is ready for another penalty shootout, should the round of 16 tie against Senegal on Sunday go the distance. 

“We’re prepared. We’ve had a process that we’ve followed,” said Southgate at a pre-match press conference. 

Southgate added that his team will like to finish the game in the stipulated time but if it comes to penalty kicks, his troops are ‘mentally and physically’ prepared for the eventuality. 

“We’re aiming to win the game and to avoid extra time if you can, and to avoid penalties if you can, because you’d like to get a victory in 90 minutes.”

“But if we need to go 120 minutes, if we need to go beyond that, then we’ve got to be ready for that mentally and physically. And I believe we are.”

Southgate also emphasised the fact that England haven’t been on-song with their set pieces.

“We haven’t been as effective from set-pieces as we would have liked to have been yet, so there’s definitely more improvement needed from us on that.

England and penalty shootouts

England’s woes with penalty shootouts have been well-documented. The three lions are still nursing the wounds from last year’s penalty shootout defeat against Italy at the Euro 2020 Final. 

At the time, it was youngsters Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford that failed to put their penalties away – prolonging England’s longing of a major trophy since winning the World Cup in 1966. 

England will be up against African champions Senegal at the Al Bayt Stadium in Doha. Senegal may be missing its talisman Sadio Mane but the African side has enough firepower in the ranks to nullify the threat of an English charge.

As for Southgate, it will be interesting to observe what tactics he takes into the match. England under Southgate have largely played a conservative brand of football, despite having a vast array of attack-minded footballers. 

(With inputs from agencies)