Old Palmer
GARETH SOUTHGATE labelled Cole Palmer a “fearless old man” after the England man confidently dispatched his penalty in the shoot-out win over Switzerland, writes Dylan Terry.
Chelsea man Palmer, 22, scored the first of the Three Lions’ five spot kicks in Dusseldorf as they claimed a 5-3 victory in the shoot-out after a 1-1 draw in 120 minutes.
Bukayo Saka, England’s player of the match, also tucked his neatly away, three years after suffering penalty heartache in the Euros final against Italy.
And Southgate, 53, began discussing the shoot-out by praising the Arsenal man.
When asked by the BBC about Saka, he said: “So brave. Look, he’s one of our best so we were never in any question that he was going to take one.
“But we all know what he went through [so] to deliver as he did.”
Southgate then turned his attention to the other takers – Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold – before he hilariously described the Chelsea playmaker.
He added: “But not just him. Trent, Ivan to come on and take them as they did.
“Cole, he’s like an old man isn’t he the way he’s fearless.
“So huge performance, huge result for us, and we’re still in it.”