England vs Colombia: 22 years of preparation, 10 penalties when taking – how Gareth Southgate got redemption

For Gareth Southgate, the penalty shootout victory was not just the justification but the redemption.

Since his infamous failure against Germany in 1996, he knew that England had to make penalties differently, better to do them. They do not make up for it, as they did that night at Wembley, when Southgate stumbled on the front of the stage, even though it's never taken that one. penalty in his life. "I was really a volunteer," admitted Southgate last week. "The type of character I was, I thought you had to put yourself forward."

Out with well-meaning but condemned victorian amateurism. What England had to do was to "own the process". Leave nothing to chance. Focus on planning and practice, how to score your kicks, and how to stop the opposition. It may seem obvious, but it took a man who was haunted by a lack of penalty for over 20 years to finally demystify the penalties for us.

After weeks of hard work, Southgate's new approach has finally paid off. here at Spartak stadium in Moscow, just before midnight.

Four of the five England scorers scored: Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Kieran Trippier and Eric Dier, who scored the winning shot. Rashford was brought into the midfield overtime to participate in a shootout. Nothing was left to chance.

"We had long talked about owning the process of a shootout," Southgate said afterwards. England even managed to survive Jordan Henderson after saving his kick. But Southgate never doubted because he hoped his recipients would feel the reward for their hard work.

"Even when our first penalty was saved, I saw enough shootouts to know that the first miss is not the key," Southgate said. "I thought our goalie would save one, and the technique of our players to take them was superb, I must thank our great support team who has done a lot of work in this area over the last few months." [19659193] (Getty Images)

There was also some redemption for Pickford, who dropped Yerry Mina's painful equalizer in the 93rd minute only to brilliantly save Carlos Bacca to rock England's shot. Pickford then stated that he was guiding the right path for all kickers in Colombia – with the exception of Falcao – and that it was the merit of the preparation that he had made with Guardian coach Martyn Margetson.

"We did some research on them. the analysis staff, "said Pickford." I had a fair feeling [where they would go]. Falcao was really the only one who did not go "in his" way. But it's about defining, reacting and going with power. And I have power and agility, I'm crazy if I'm not the biggest goalkeeper. I have this power and agility to bypass the goal. I'm very good.

Pickford's attack against Bacca should mark the turn of the night. It was certainly better executed than Dier's winning kick, which Ospina should have saved. But Pickford, knowing that Bacca likes to go to the top right, dipped early, not too low, extending a powerful left hand in the air to keep the ball out. The power and agility of Pickford, as he says, combined with months of research and preparation to save Bacca's kick and save summer in England

Southgate was delighted. "[Jordan] studied all their takers, and gave great credit to the staff and to him for taking this information and preparing himself in the right way," he said. "You do not always have what you deserve in life, but I think tonight we did it."

Southgate would never say it quite so, but much of that merit goes to him. He knows the weight of the penalties better than anyone else in the history of English football. And as part of his work since he's taken the leadership of England, he has revolutionized the approach of the team. Mature, planned, sensitive, meticulous: England 's approach to penalties is a reflection of Southgate' s approach

As he explained in Kaliningrad last week, As a result of the 1-0 defeat, he has almost his entire adult life thinking about it, and how to do it right.

"I've had a few decades to think about it," said Southgate. "It's not a question of luck, it's not a question of luck, it's a matter of doing a skill under pressure, there are things you can to work, things that can be useful for the preparation of the players.We have studied it.We can do a lot of things to take ownership of the process and not be controlled by it. "

Nobody could dispute the intent behind this project when Southgate set out its plans, but no one knew how much it would work until England finally made contact with the hard binary of

On Tuesday night in Moscow, the Southgate plan worked, his own personal lessons were learned.The team had won, but Southgate had a personal redemption which he could not have. -be never dreamed.

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