- Jordan Pickford is willing to voluntarily take a penalty for England in Germany
- He was one of the heroes in England’s shootout win against Colombia in 2018
- Listen to It all starts! Why Euro 2024 could give us another ‘old school’ tournament
Jordan Pickford says he will raise his hand to take a penalty in a shootout for England this summer, but has revealed no penalty training has taken place so far.
First, the goalkeeper says, he and his teammates have to get through the group stage, which kicks off against Serbia on Sunday in Gelsenkirchen.
Pickford was the hero in Russia 2018 as England won a World Cup shootout for the first time when he defeated Colombia in the last 16.
He is also the only Three Lions goalkeeper to score a penalty in a competitive shootout, when he struck the winner against Switzerland in the Nations League bronze medal match in 2019. And the Everton stopper is prepared to do it all again if necessary.
“If I’m called upon, I’m confident I’ll take one,” Pickford said. ‘I would stand up for my country. But if you look at the whole team, I think I’m in the pecking order!’
Jordan Pickford has claimed he would voluntarily take a penalty for England at the 2024 European Championship
He was a hero in 2018 when England finally won a World Cup shootout against Colombia
Perhaps not given the emphatic nature of his finish last time?
“I know… I took one and converted one,” he laughed, before admitting that there had been no shootings in the camp.
‘From a goalkeeping perspective, we haven’t gone into that yet. The guys who naturally take penalties for their club might be doing their own thing. I’m going to do my homework tomorrow about the match against Serbia. But the knockout stage will come later, because before that happens we still have three big games to go.”
For now, Pickford has his hands full on the other side of the park. Concerns remain about England’s defense entering the tournament, and it was put to Pickford that the backline was labeled a weak link in some quarters, a claim he refuted.
“Everyone is here because they have had a good season for their club and everyone has played for England before,” he said. ‘We all know each other’s strengths, what we are good at and what we need.
‘You say ‘defence’, it starts from the centre-forward all the way back. We have to work as a unit. I would say that is the key factor, working as a unit, rather than talking about the back four and the goalkeeper.”
Pickford also believes the backbone of the England team – himself, John Stones, Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane – will be the envy of their Euros rivals.
He scored in a shootout win over Switzerland in the 2019 Nations League
Mail Sport’s Craig Hope (right) took on England star Jordan Pickford (left) in a golf challenge
“It’s not too bad, huh?” he said. ‘If you look: Stonesy won the Champions League last year, the treble and the Premier League four times in a row. Jude’s won the Champions League this year. Harry Kane scores goals for fun, England’s record goalscorer, and Declan has had a fantastic season at Arsenal.
‘So the spine is crucial, but it is more than just the spine. It’s about the whole team and everyone working together to be our best.”