Topics: England, Euro 2024, Phil Foden, Switzerland, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Gareth Southgate
Phil Foden has responded to the claim that he did not want to take a penalty during England's shootout win over Switzerland at Euro 2024.
Gareth Southgate’s men secured their place in the semi-final of Euro 2024, netting all their spot kicks to dispatch Switzerland 5-3 on penalties, after playing out a 1-1 draw.
Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Ivan Toney scored from the spot before Trent Alexander-Arnold emphatically buried the decisive penalty.
After the game, Alexander-Arnold was heard telling his family that one England star didn’t want to take a penalty, which has led to speculation over which player may have shirked the responsibility.
Advert
Foden, who Alexander-Arnold replaced with just five minutes of extra time remaining, was among those thought to have avoided taking a penalty.
However, the Manchester City star insisted he would have stepped up had he still been on the pitch.
Foden told talkSPORT: “I would have taken one if I was still on the pitch but I think there’s players who take them regularly for their clubs so it makes sense for them to take them.
“I think that’s what Gareth did, put the best penalty-takers on the pitch. I’m glad he did that now because it definitely worked in our favour.
“I feel like it’s a confidence thing, if you believe you’re going to score you can definitely be a penalty-taker.
“Like I said, I wouldn’t have minded taking one if I was still on the pitch but there’s probably better penalty-takers than me.”
Foden scored a penalty in the shootout as Manchester City lost to Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of last season’s Champions League.
SPORTbible are on WhatsApp! We've launched a dedicated transfer news channel to send you the latest deals, rumours and more directly on WhatsApp and all you need to do to sign up is click through to our one-way broadcast channel here for 'SPORTbible News' to appear in the 'Updates' tab on your WhatsApp.
