The Everton and England goalkeeper were the heroes of the penalty shoot-out against Switzerland, saving the first penalty to help England progress to the semi-finals.
England-Switzerland. Penalty kick. It was a terrible word that fans of both teams did not want to hear at the end of a 120-minute football match. They know that the fate of their own team depends on luck (or skill!) in the penalty shootout. ）。
France beat Portugal on penalties last night and after a 1-1 draw with Switzerland in extra-time, England went to the Swiss on penalties. Their goalkeeper Jordan Pickford played a decisive role in saving Akanji's first penalty to give England the upper hand from the start.
Although he was unable to save the next three penalties, England's penalty takers did their job, converting all five to send England to the semi-finals of Euro 2024.
The game was intriguing from the start. Well, when looking at these two sets of players, maybe not the thrill that a lot of people hoped for and expected, but the game was always in a tense atmosphere that kept us hooked.
Overall, I feel like Portugal are the better team, but both teams had multiple chances to turn things around but neither took them.
From periods of caution to moments of fierce competition, there's always a hint that this game is about to reach the peak of entertainment. While this rarely happens, the anticipation – and of course a very good game – is enough to make the game enjoyable, and the penalty shoot-out may be the right ending to such a close match. But sadly, Joao Felix will be remembered for missing a penalty. Someone has to do it.
What is Pickford's free throw record?
The Everton goalkeeper, who hails from Washington in Tyne Wilshire in the north-east of England, was not the best penalty saver. Throughout his career, he faced a total of 62 penalties in regular time, scoring 54 of them. This gives him a save rate of 12.9 per cent. In comparison, Germany's Manuel Neuer had a whopping 22 per cent save rate.
The Swiss goalkeeper has saved 16 penalties in regular season over the course of his long career. Most recently, in January this year, he saved Nicolás Gonzalez's penalty in Inter Milan's win over Fiorentina.
In addition, according to the data, he has faced 79 penalties. As a result, he saved 16.84 per cent of the 95 penalties he faced, making 16 saves.
Pickford went into a penalty shoot-out
However, Pickford was better in the penalty shoot-out. He saved Carlos Bacca's penalty and set Dier into the winning penalty as England beat Colombia in the round of 16 of the 2018 World Cup.
Pickford then saved two penalties in the Euro 2020 final penalty shoot-out against Italy, but unfortunately his heroics were not enough for England, who won 3-2 on penalties, with Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka missing the last three. Pickford saved penalties from Belotti and Jorginho, but Berardi, Leonardo Bonucci and Bernardeschi all scored.