Coach Pearce insists England will not pay the penalty again
ENGLAND Under 21 coach Stuart Pearce insists his side have practiced penalties for two years in order to banish the heartache of their last European Championship campaign.
The side lost an epic shootout 13-12 in their semi-final against Holland in 2007, while former England star Pearce, himself, has suffered the pain of penalties defeat in both the last four of the 1990 World Cup and Euro’ 96.
England kick-off this summer’s campaign against Finland in Halmstad, Sweden, this afternoon and Pearce is determined his young side won’t suffer the same fate this time round. “Since then every training session we’ve practiced, for nigh on two years,” Pearce said yesterday.
“Statistically we’ve looked at everything. We’ve tried to draw in all the penalty takers of each of the eight nations that we’re playing against to see what they do. Make no mistake, there’s no stone unturned.”
He added: “Two out of the three tournaments I’ve played as a player I’ve gone out on penalties. The one where I’ve managed a team at a major finals has cost me my place on penalties – so three out of four major tournaments. Whoever gets to the final and maybe wins the final in this tournament will have to win a penalty shoot-out. That’s the importance of it.”
UNDER 21’S WEEK’S FIXTURES
TODAY
England v Finland (ko 5.15pm)
Spain v Germany (ko 7.45pm)
TOMORROW
Sweden v Belarus (ko 5.15pm)
Italy v Serbia (ko 7.45pm)
THURSDAY
Germany v Finland (ko 5.15pm)
Spain v England (ko 7.45pm)
FRIDAY
Sweden v Italy (ko 3pm)
Belarus v Serbia (ko 5.15pm)