England Players Are Recreating 'Walk Of Shame' In Training To Prepare For Germany Game

England players are trying to recreate the pressures of a penalty shoot-out ahead of their upcoming European Championship clash against Germany by doing the daunting 'walk of shame'.

For years, the dreaded shoot-out has been England's worst enemy. In fact, before Gareth Southgate took over as manager, the nation had won just one of seven tournament shoot-outs.

But since being appointed in 2016, the Three Lions have won their last two penalty shoot-outs -- a dramatic last-16 win against Colombia in the World Cup and a Nations League third-place play-off victory against Switzerland in 2019.

So what is the secret? Southgate has often referred to trusting the process, with England players being told to fixate on the ball, pick a spot and not change their decision, according to The Mirror.

Jordan Pickford could take a penalty against Germany on Tuesday. Image credit: PA

The process is also said to include practising the 'walk of shame' - an extremely nervy situation when a player walks from the halfway line to the penalty spot.

England forward Phil Foden admitted last week that he has rehearsed the situation in training.

"I've been practising walking from the halfway line to take the penalties so when it comes to the game it feels comfortable for you," he told BBC Sport.

"People say it's luck but I don't believe in that. If you practise your penalty and know where you're putting it before you can get an advantage going into it."

John Stones, who featured in all three of England's group stage games at Euro 2020, has also spoken about their penalty preparation ahead of Germany.

In an interview with The Telegraph, he said: "Everything will be done before so it's not like a mad scramble and we look like we're unprepared.

"We want to be going into it knowing that we've ticked every box. Knowing that when a certain situation comes, no one is panicking, saying, 'Oh, do you want to go third?'

"Choose your spot. We've been practising on keeping that clear focus: what to do if your turn comes.

"The winning mentality and the willingness to win is now coming out. I haven't seen as much in previous squads before 2018. There's a real hunger there which is so natural to everyone. When we come up against Germany, it's a time to really test ourselves and show the world what a good team we are."

Image credit: PA

Southgate knows how important the process has been to instil a winning mentality.

"We've obviously won our last two penalty shootouts," he said.

"So we have a process that works for us through that preparation and we've followed that same process.

"There's a little bit more focus on it this week but we don't start it this week as that would be too late, and also we didn't want to make a bigger thing of it than it is.

"We created a process that works for us, we think the players understand that and we'll be well prepared if it comes to that moment."

Can England overcome Germany and secure a place in the European Championship quarter-finals?

Let us know in the comments.

Topics: Football, England, Germany, Gareth Southgate, Penalty

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

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