England are prepared for another penalty shoot-out against Italy on Tuesday, although manager Sarina Wiegman is hoping it won’t come to that.
The Lionesses managed to claw back from a 2-0 deficit to force penalties against Sweden in the quarter-finals, despite only converting three of their seven attempts.
“We practice for hours and hours!” Wiegman quipped during her pre-match press conference, acknowledging the possibility of another nail-biting finish. “Over the last months players train for penalties all the time, also at their clubs, you want to be as prepared as possible,” she added”Hopefully it’s not necessary. We have practiced again.
Italian boss Andrea Soncin suggested that nothing can replicate the pressure of taking a penalty in a packed stadium during a knockout match.
“I don’t believe there’s a specific way to train the penalty in a training session because there’s the emotional aspect and physical aspect coming into play,” Soncin stated.
“Of course we try to train the penalties and believe anything can happen, of course it’s something we work on.”
England’s substitutes were instrumental in the quarter-final victory over Sweden, with Michelle Agyemang coming off the bench to equalise and Chloe Kelly contributing to both goals. This has presented Wiegman with a potential selection dilemma, but she trusts her ‘finishers’ regardless of when they are called upon.
“I think she was sharp, I think all the substitutes who came on were really sharp and did their job,” Wiegman said of Kelly. “It was a hard fight but we got through.”
In the run-up to the match, England revealed they would not be taking the knee before the semi-final as they call for greater action following defender Jess Carter’s experience of online racial abuse.
“It’s just to change it up,” midfielder Georgia Stanway explained.
“We felt like the knee was just a little bit repetitive, we felt like it’s come to a point where the knee isn’t doing what we wanted it to do, so now our decision is to stand and hopefully that will bring up more conversation, more change and hopefully get the topic [spoken about].”
Italy defender Cecilia Salvai revealed she and her teammates would unite to discuss how they could demonstrate their support for Carter, whilst manager Soncin emphasised the squad’s backing for England and Gotham defender Carter.
“Of course there is the greatest of solidarity to her and towards anyone suffering violence and abuse. It should not be tolerated,” Soncin said.
“We have a responsibility with the position we are in to send the right messages, we need to give education messages, including to children, it is a cultural campaign, a cultural battle. I don’t know if getting on the knee is enough, but we are ready to take part in any campaign to help this.”