sport news Declan Rice insists Gareth Southgate has helped England overcome penalty fears trends now
Declan Rice has insisted that England have overcome their World Cup penalty shootout hoodoo, owing to the belief instilled in them by manager Gareth Southgate.
England were knocked out of the 1990, 1998 and 2006 World Cups on spot-kicks but four years ago under Southgate they finally won a shootout, beating Colombia.
They face Senegal on Sunday night in the last 16 but midfielder Rice said they would not play in fear of penalties.
England star Declan Rice has insisted that England have overcome their penalty fears
He hailed Gareth Southgate for 'shifting the mindset' from 12 yards ahead of Senegal clash
‘Since Gareth has come in, we’ve shifted our mindset on penalties,’ he said. ‘We lost the Euro 2020 final against Italy, but we had a big win against Colombia in 2018. We know now we’ll be well prepared for it.’
England have stepped up their penalty practice but Rice is wary of overdoing it.
‘You don’t want to take too many penalties in training,’ he said. ‘You want to be fresh, pick a spot. If it does come to penalties, I back us 100 per cent. You have to get your breathing right.
‘I’m really confident in what we’re seeing. Not just because of the players we’ve got but also the preparation we’ve put in.’
Rice said he would even be happy to step up against Senegal if the game went to penalties
There is a distinct possibility the last-16 clash in Al Khor will need to be settled by a shootout, as Senegal are a pragmatic and well-organised side.
They have experience from the spot in 2022, too, having won the Africa Cup of Nations final and their World Cup play-off against Egypt on penalties.
But this will not faze England’s players, who have had a round of penalties after every training
