England produced five faultless penalties against Switzerland to ensure their progression to Euro 2024’s semi-finals where they face Netherlands for a place in the tournament’s finale
England’s dramatic penalty shootout win over Switzerland on Saturday may have been aided by Gareth Southgate’s secret weapon.
Few know how brutal the small margins of a shootout can be as much as Southgate, who missed a crucial spot-kick in Euro 96 to see his side knocked out by Germany. Since being appointed as Three Lions boss in 2016, the former Middlesbrough manager has worked hard to ensure his side does not suffer similar heartbreak
From the introduction of a sports psychologist and team analysts, in addition to simple practice, Southgate even added a breathing expert to aid his team’s chances for the Euros. Breathing specialist and Radio 1 host, Stuart Sandeman, has been present in England’s camp in a bid to give the side any edge that can be found.
While supporters were forced to suffer 120 nerve-racking minutes as the Three Lions struggled against Switzerland, Southgate’s penalty takers oozed composure when their time arrived. Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold showed plenty of confidence as they stepped up, but could also be seen expelling a deep breath moments before unleashing their strike.
Luke Shaw revealed that teammate Declan Rice had reminded the side about the breathing techniques they had learned.
“‘Declan was our speaker, he was calming everyone down and telling them to do their breathing techniques and manifest them,’ Shaw said. ‘It was needed.’
Sandeman, who was gifted a signed shirt by the squad on the eve of their win over Slovakia, held a breathing session with the team, informing them that breathing deeply in high pressure moments would let both muscles and the mind reset so that ‘when it’s time to switch back on, you’re able to perform at your best’.
The author of Breathe In, Breathe Out led a relaxing session for Southgate’s squad to aid in their recovery. He said: “There’s no greater indication of the powerful link between breathing and performance than England including breathwork to aid the team’s recovery at Euro 2024 after Sundays win. I’m humbled that they chose me to lead these sessions.”
Sandeman sees breathwork as an aid to recovery and also as a method to help sportspeople work on their fight or flight instinct. “The autonomous nervous system is split in two halves… how we’re breathing really affects that on switch,” Sandeman recently said.
“Not only does breathing bring life into our body, but it triggers our state of being. It affects how we feel, how we think, how our system works.”
England also employed more traditional methods to assist in their penalty taking prowess. Coach and former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has taken an active role in preparations.
Man City ace Phil Foden told BBC Radio 5 Live: “Jimmy’s been working hard with us to do penalties after training in case it goes to a shoot-out. “They were just full of confidence and slotted them away. Jimmy’s got a lot of experience in the game, he knows his stuff. He’s been taking a few of us after training to practice penalties.
“I feel like when I first came into the England side, we were maybe practicing them too much and there wasn’t really a coach taking them. Now we have Jimmy for that reason to only take a couple, not overdo it. Practice your spot where you put it and stick with it. There’s a lot of work that goes into it off the field.
“I feel like we’ve got the balance just right now. It does help that we’ve got some of the best penalty-takers in the world like Ivan (Toney) and Cole (Palmer), who never look like missing.
“I don’t feel like it is a lottery. We put the time and effort in. We don’t want to make it a lottery, we want to have that extra one or two per cent in our favour.”
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