MX23RW : Monday, November 25 12:51:58| >> :120:12450:12450:

Roy Hodgson: 'We're practising penalties'

Roy Hodgson says England are practising penalties ahead of Sunday's last eight meeting with Italy.

England manager Roy Hodgson has admitted that his side are practising penalties ahead of Sunday's match with Italy.

The Three Lions meet the Azzurri in the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 where it is possible that the game could be settled with a penalty shootout.

England have crashed out of five major tournaments on penalties in the past 22 years and, despite the practice, Hodgson believes that a shootout on the night against Italy is something that they cannot prepare themselves for.

"We have used the time after training sessions to regularly practise and we'll obviously take it even more seriously now," said Hodgson.

"You hope one day it will make a big difference.

"But you can practise penalty shoot-outs until the cows come home, it's really your composure, your confidence, your ability to really block everything out and forget the occasion that means you score or don't.

"Sometimes we've seen the best players miss and the ones you think are not penalty-takers are the ones that smash them in."

England last lost a penalty shootout at the 2006 World Cup against Portugal.

ID:31670: cacheID:31670:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2063:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Gareth Barry
Read Next:
Milner: 'England hard to beat'
>
Read more about Roy Hodgson Football
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1210112481631
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
10Fulham125341717018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd124441313016
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Ipswich TownIpswich121651323-109
19Crystal Palace121561017-78
20Southampton121110924-154


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!