Jordan Pickford’s water-bottle has done wonders for England.
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The Euro 2024 quarter-final showdown between England and Switzerland was a tense affair, culminating in England’s victory through a penalty shootout. However, England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford‘s water bottle became a pivotal element in securing their spot in the semi-finals against a resilient Swiss team on 6th July, Saturday.
A photo of Pickford’s water bottle emerged on social media, revealing opponent details and instructions. Next to Akanji’s name, it said ‘dive left’. Interestingly, Manuel Akanji took Switzerland’s first penalty, which Pickford saved, marking the initial setback in their eventual defeat.
The paper labeled “Switzerland Penalty Taker List” featured the names of all potential takers. Adjacent columns contained instructions for the English goalkeeper, detailing actions such as “feint right – dive left” and “set – react” next to the respective names.
England’s penalty takers successfully converted all five attempts in the shootout to secure victory, with Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold netting the decisive penalty.
However, it was the outstanding performance of man-of-the-match Bukayo Saka that propelled England into the shootout, as the Arsenal winger scored the equalizing goal just before the end of regulation time.
The outcome not only solidifies Southgate’s status as one of England’s most accomplished managers in terms of advancing far in tournaments but also brings the country closer to a potential trophy.
England, set to encounter Netherlands in the semi-finals on Wednesday, appeared in danger of exiting the tournament during regular time when Switzerland’s Breel Embolo sneaked past Kyle Walker to tap in Dan Ndoye’s redirected cross from close quarters in the 75th minute.
However, Saka, operating in an unusual right wing-back position and considered England’s most threatening player, equalized soon after by cutting inside and curling a spectacular shot that struck the post before finding the net from outside the penalty area.
So after playing a 1-1 encounter in the entire 120 minutes, The Three Lions went onto win the shoot-out 5-3.