England booked its place in the Euro 2024 semi-finals after defeating Switzerland on penalties 5-3 following the end of regular and extra time in a 1-1 draw.
The English owe their credit to goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, after he successfully saved Manuel Akanji’s penalty kick, which sealed the qualification for the Three Lions.
It seems that the Everton goalkeeper’s blocking of the Manchester City star’s kick was not a coincidence, but rather the result of very careful work by Pickford and his coaching staff in the England national team.
A photo showed that Pickford had placed on his water bottle a sheet of paper showing where each Swiss player took a penalty kick based on their history.
At Akanji, it was written on the paper: “Throw to the left,” which Pickford did and was able to successfully block the kick that gave England the early advantage in the penalty shootout.
The brilliant goalkeeper then almost blocked Xherdan Shaqiri’s kick, but it came strong at an impossible angle for Pickford.
This is not the first time the water bottle trick has been used, as Egyptian goalkeeper Mohamed Abu Gabal became famous for it at the 2021 African Nations in Cameroon as well, and it is a method currently used by the majority of goalkeepers around the world.
