England’s forward Jude Bellingham gave credit to team’s assistant coach Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink for helping the Three Lions end their penalty shootout woes. England has an awful record in the penalty shootout in the major events but they were able to turn a corner in the quarterfinal clash of Euro 2024 against Switzerland on Saturday.
After the match ended in a 1-1 draw, England won on penalties by 5-3 to seal their semifinal place. Meanwhile, England have been knocked out on penalties in seven tournaments – 1990, 1996, 1998, 2004, 2006, 2012, and also the Euro 2021 final against Italy.
However, on Saturday, Cole Palmer, Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold – all found the back of the net from the 12-yard spot.
“It’s a first for me to be involved in one, to take one,” Bellingham, 21, told BBC Radio 5Live.
“I have awful memories kind of growing up and I think the first Euro that I was really interested in was the one against Italy [Euro 2012] with the dink from [Andrea] Pirlo.
“It kind of stains your memory a little bit, you always think: ‘England in penalty shoot-outs, I’m not sure,’ but it’s really nice to have that experience to add to the locker now.
“I was really confident in my preparation, confident in the things I talked through with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, he’s stepped up for us massively.
“It’s the work that he does behind closed doors, with the lads being willing to take on that information, that put us in those situations in order to be able to win.
“So this is a massive team effort. Another thing is [goalkeepers] Dean Henderson, Aaron Ramsdale, Tom Heaton, who have been with us this camp, they’ve been huge in helping us practise the penalties.
“Again, they won’t get the credit they deserve but essentially, if they don’t put in the right effort, you don’t have the right practice to go out and execute. So many people are involved in this win. It’s a massive team win.”
England will take on the Netherlands at the Signal Iduna Park on Wednesday.
