Nine key moments you did not see during England’s penalty shoot-out win

The secrets behind England’s perfect penalties that clinched a place in the semi-finals of the European Championship for Gareth Southgate’s team have been revealed.

England scored all five of their spot-kicks in Saturday night’s shoot-out success against Switzerland. And, while the Football Association blocked players from going into detail over penalties with external media, Bukayo Saka and Luke Shaw divulged the team’s tricks and techniques on the FA’s in-house Lions’ Den show.

It has also emerged that former England assistant manager Gary Neville revealed that he had been told how Southgate and his staff prepare for penalty shoot-outs on his Overlap podcast last month.

Here, Telegraph Sport looks at the secrets that have been let slip by Saka, who was one of England’s penalty heroes, Shaw, who was on the pitch and ready to take one if needed, and Neville.

‌Walker’s inside knowledge

Shaw and Saka told the ‘Lions’ Den’ that Kyle Walker had helped goalkeeper Jordan Pickford dive the right way to save the penalty of his Manchester City team-mate Manuel Akanji. Pickford had the direction to dive for all of the Swiss players, including Akanji, written on his water bottle but Walker reinforced his decision to go to his left. Shaw said: “I think Walks helped him a little bit. I could see Walks was pointing to his left. Walks was pointing to that side and it gave him extra help. I think he was already going that way, but it gave him some extra help to know where to go.”

‌Rice’s calming words

The Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice may not have ended up taking a kick, but he still played a key role in England’s shoot-out success. The players have not only been practising their spot kicks, but have also taken part in yoga sessions while away at the Euros. Shaw said: “Dec was our speaker who was keeping everyone calm, calming everyone down, telling everyone to do their breathing techniques and manifest it. It was needed.”

‌The goalkeepers’ union

Pickford could not have been better prepared for Switzerland’s penalties, having taped a print-out of which way to dive for each of their players onto his water bottle. But the preparation of the goalkeepers goes much further than simply printing out ‘cheat sheets’. Shaw said: “The goalkeepers work really hard and they prepare very well for it. The night before the game, they’ll have their own goalkeepers’ meeting and stuff, and go through the penalties and watch them back.”

‌Stopping opposition ‘nonsense’

After each Swiss penalty, Pickford was careful to make sure he retrieved the ball to give to England’s next taker. The Everton man usually has plenty to say during games, but also knows when to keep his mouth shut. Saka said: “When he’s giving me the ball, he doesn’t say anything and I prefer it that way. He’s just there to give you the ball, have a familiar face. If it’s the opposition, they could just do some nonsense, throw it away or something. So to have him there and give you the ball, I think it’s good.”

‌Collective faith

England’s players not only had faith in themselves, but also demonstrated confidence in each other. Shaw said: “I was next to Trent [Alexander-Arnold] the whole time, so I was really confident. He seemed really relaxed. We have our routines anyway and we practise them a lot so everyone knew what they were doing and where they were going. So it was very calculated, we all knew what was going to happen. When Trent stepped up, I had full faith and I knew he was going to score.”

On his own technique, Saka said: “I try to focus more on success than failure. If I think about failure and missing, then it gets me down and worried. But I was pretty relaxed when I was walking to the penalty spot. I’ve taken many penalties this season and I’ve scored all of them, so I was confident. I’ve been doing well in training too.”

‌Toney’s nerves of steel

Ivan Toney’s no-look penalties have even taken his England team-mates by surprise and yet they knew exactly what the striker was going to do after witnessing it in training. Saka said: “When we see Ivan Toney practice in training, he does the same thing. It’s crazy. We’re all just in awe, I don’t know how you can not look at the ball.” Shaw added: “It’s crazy and you watch back the video and there’s one watching his face, it’s mad. It’s crazy. I think everyone who took penalties was unbelievable.”

‌Southgate’s concentrated penalty practice

Southgate and the FA have tried to keep England’s penalty practice under wraps, but Neville spilled the beans on his Overlap podcast last month by saying: “Someone told me the other week what Gareth does. He takes three players to a very quiet area of the training ground. They take three penalties each in a real methodical way. Quite short, but concentrated and focused. Basically, they are told to pick a place where they are going to take the penalty and they go in.”

‌Being ready

We will never know who was in line to take England’s penalties if the Switzerland shoot-out had gone into sudden death, but all of Southgate’s players have been primed for the possibility that they might be required to step up. Asked if he would take a spot kick in a shoot-out, Shaw replied: “Of course. You’ve got to be ready if you’re on the pitch at the final whistle. You have to be ready.”

‌Buddy system

Photographs and television footage showed each England player who took a penalty was greeted emphatically by just one team-mate upon their return to the halfway line: Cole Palmer by Walker, then Jude Bellingham by Shaw, Toney by Rice and Saka by John Stones.

It is no coincidence that the four players waiting for their returning team-mates were not among the five-man shoot-out order selected by Southgate, and had Alexander-Arnold returned after missing his spot-kick – resulting in sudden death, it can be assumed that Eberechi Eze would have been first to console him. Lucky for the Liverpool defender, Eze was not needed.