Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Neville: Penalty nerves? Not us
PHIL NEVILLE has scotched talk of any penalty shootout heartache by saying the Lionesses have no fear about them.
As this World Cup enters the knockout phase, thoughts automatically turn to the drama of the spot-kicks and the overwhelming failure of the men’s teams to progress.
But with Cameroon lying in wait in today’s last-16 clash, the Lionesses’ head coach says they are fully prepared.
England have been practising – and have taken on board the success of Gareth Southgate’s side in the Nations League.
Neville said: “My players have loved taking them in training. There’s a real feelgood factor about it. There’s no fear. If it happens, we’ll win.”
Skipper Steph Houghton added: “What we have done is similar to the men. It obviously worked for them and they won in the Nations League, so we have tried to do similar.
“It seems to be working in training but hopefully we will never get to that point.”
Jordan Pickford got the glory in the Nations League shootout triumph over Switzerland, saving one and converting his own penalty.
Houghton added that the keepers have been swotting up as best they can for that challenge.
She said: “The keepers do a lot of work and we have got four very good ones.
“Karen Bardsley is the most prepared keeper I’ve ever played with. If it comes down to the finer details of where the strikers are shooting, high or low, they’ll sit down with the coaches and go through the analysis.
“Every player is exactly the same in terms of the detail they want and every player wants a small win whenever they can get one.”