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Stu has a spot-kick schedule
England Under-21 coach Stuart Pearce has told his penalty takers they cannot opt out of the shootout tonight (5pm) if their European Championship semi-final against Sweden goes the distance.
Pearce lost on spot-kicks twice as a player and two years ago as a coach, so his youngsters have been practising after each training session, while the tournament hosts are believed to have a more laid-back approach.
Staff have collated data and each member of Pearce's squad has a ranking which will determine their position in the queue – with no player allowed to drop down the order.
"I will have a list of one to 23 penalty takers," he said. "I know the order which we take penalties. The only thing in doubt is the 11 on the pitch at that stage.
"We've analysed the direction in which players take penalties, which is the most successful way for each of our players, the success rate of those players, and obviously the goalkeeper's technique in saving penalties.
"We have spent two years working on those lessons.
"From years gone by the one thing that comes out is that when a manager walked out to the centre circle they had no idea who their best penalty takers were. He would ask 'who fancies it?' That is not exactly a precise science, is it?"
There is a danger of ignoring what goes on during the match.
At Italia '90, Paul Gascoigne was earmarked as a penalty-taker but did not take one as he was too distraught after receiving a yellow card before the shootout, ruling him out of the final.
As Pearce knows, that is all part of England's history as nearly men when it comes to penalties – one Swedish newspaper also described the under-21 coach as a "nearly man" for his own role.
After missing against the Germans in 1990, Pearce then scored against them during Euro '96 but still ended up losing the shootout. Both were at the semi-final stage.
"In my brief spell in international football as a player or manager we need to break through a semi-final barrier, that is for sure," Pearce said.
"Not only that we need to go and win something.
"I said two years ago we have to put foundations down for the senior team. If the under-17s, under-19s or under-21s are the first to win something then that sets the foundation for the seniors. That has to be done."
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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