Euro 2020 final: How does England get over more penalty disappointment?

If you were one of the almost 31 million people watching last night's Euro 2020 final, we don't need to tell you how the nail-biting penalty shoot-out ended.

It was a familiar story for England fans, who felt the familiar sense of penalty shoot-out disappointment once again.

Fans may have felt the team had turned a corner three years ago when they beat Colombia on penalties, breaking a long losing streak.

And although they lost, there may be hope yet for the team when it comes to penalties.

'Very much a team'

Ben Lyttleton is someone who was watching Sunday's final with huge anticipation.

Ben has written a book about penalties, and works with football teams to help improve their penalty record.

He says the squad will be feeling "disappointed" about the result, but says they're "very much a team".

"One thing we've noticed with this group is they are very much connected - they show empathy for each other," says Ben.

"I saw a video this morning of Kalvin Phillips running 50 metres from the centre circle to give Saka a hug, that kind of behaviour is totally normalised under Southgate.

"There is a psychological safety that the group has, that allows them to make mistakes and come back stronger."

As well as the team rallying around Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after they missed penalties, support poured in online.

'A surprising turnaround'

After the match, some people questioned why 19-year-old Saka - who'd never taken a penalty in his senior career - was in the position of taking the deciding penalty.

England's Jack Grealish tweeted, after criticism, to say that he did want to take a penalty.

Boss Gareth Southgate has since said he was the one who chose which players would take the penalties, and in which order. Normally players would volunteer themselves before the shoot-out.

Ben says that was "smart" for the manager to choose instead.

"He is the first England coach to have lost a penalty shootout at a major tournament, and not said, 'penalties are a lottery,' which is what normally happens.

"That's a big sea change in narrative and in leadership."

"The fact that the players were not able to execute a skill under pressure is not their fault - it's his fault, as he sees it.

"I think that's a really encouraging sign, both for the players involved and for the future, because I think it becomes less of a traumatic experience.

"It's very much the start of something rather than the end of something."

'Get back on the bike'

Having studied the psychology of penalties, Ben says the best thing to do after missing one is to "get back on the bike and take another".

It was only on Wednesday that England captain Harry Kane missed a penalty against Denmark, but Southgate still chose him to take the first one on Sunday.

Ben says: "As a solution, that is the best thing to do."

"Jorginho famously missed three penalties in a row last season for Chelsea, and then changed his strategy, scored, and then went back to his previous strategy."

The midfielder had opted to ditch his famous hop, skip, jump technique to score against Tottenham and end his run of misses.

Vegas anyone?

Getting those chances to practice penalties might be trickier for some players though.

Ben says: "The interesting thing about both Rashford and Sancho is that they're at Man United, where they're not the main penalty taker.

"So their opportunity to take lots of penalties and get over this is going to be scarce, it's going to be hard."

But before they move on to more training and matches, most people would agree the England squad needs a break.

"It's exhausting emotionally and physically being involved in a tournament that goes the distance, especially when you're at home, there's a lot of pressure.

Ben says they "need a holiday". Jack Grealish did say he would be taking a trip Vegas if they won. Maybe somewhere more relaxing is on the cards now?

This is just the beginning

England's squad is remarkably young, compared with teams they have been up against.

Many of them are at the start of their careers, Ben says these penalties won't define them.

"They are outstanding individuals, role models and players. For these guys, it's just going to be part of their story. It's going to make them even more inspiring to the next generation.

"They'll get a chance to play again at a major tournament for their country, which is the most exciting thing."

"This is not going to be this these players legacies.

With only 16 months until the 2022 World Cup, Ben says they have got "so much more to give".

It's not all downhill from here - lessons from 2012

Even the best in the world miss penalties - it's about how you come back from them.

The 2012 Champions League semi-finals and final all happened to include some of the world's best players missing crucial penalties.

So they could be a blueprint for Saka, Sancho and Rashford to follow.

Leo Messi - Barcelona, semi-final

Even the GOATs miss sometimes.

He struck a crucial spot-kick against the bar in a Champions League semi-final second leg against Chelsea in 2012.

Chelsea would go on to win the whole competition - and two months later, Messi said he was "still hurting" from that miss.

But Messi, 25 at the time, won loads more stuff for Barcelona, including the 2015 Champions League final and a bunch of domestic titles.

Sergio Ramos & Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid, semi-final

Two European heavyweights - Real Madrid and Bayern Munich - took it all the way to a penalty shootout in the other semi-final.

Again, even the GOATs miss sometimes.

Having scored a penalty at the start of the second leg match, Ronaldo saw his spot kick in the shootout saved

This time, we're talking about Cristiano Ronaldo, whose penalty in the shootout was saved by Manuel Neuer.

And ever-reliable centre back Sergio Ramos failed to hit the target completely, meaning Real Madrid were dumped out.

Football fans know what Ramos and Ronaldo would go on to do in the Champions League, though: Four out of five titles between 2014 and 2018, including a record-breaking three in a row.

Arjen Robben - Bayern Munich, final

It wasn't a great end to the 2011-12 season for Bayern's Arjen Robben.

In a crucial Bundesliga title decider against Borussia Dortmund, he missed a penalty. Dortmund would end up winning the league.

Robben had an opportunity to make amends in the Champions League final a few weeks later, though.

With the match in extra time, Bayern were awarded a penalty. Up stepped the Dutchman again.

Chelsea rode their luck on the way to the Champions League trophy - with crucial penalties missed in the semi-final and final

But Chelsea keeper Petr Cech saved his spot-kick, and Bayern lost the final - in a penalty shootout.

A year later however, Bayern Munich reclaimed their grip on the Bundesliga title, plus Robben earned a man of the match in the 2013 Champions League final, scoring a last-minute winner against Dortmund.

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