Florida [US], June 4 (ANI): England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has said he would have no hesitation in stepping up to take a penalty for the Three Lions if required during the FIFA World Cup, backing himself to deliver in high-pressure situations.
Pickford, who is currently with the England squad in Florida ahead of warm-up fixtures against New Zealand and Costa Rica, revealed that he has been working on his penalty-taking alongside his regular goalkeeping duties as the team prepares for the tournament in the United States.
Asked whether he would be willing to take a penalty for England at the World Cup, the Everton goalkeeper responded confidently, saying, “Yes. I’d back myself 100 per cent. I’ll put the practice in and execute it,” as per goal.com.
The 32-year-old has built a reputation as one of England’s key figures in penalty shootouts, having produced decisive saves during the 2018 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2020 and UEFA Euro 2024 campaigns.
He also converted a penalty in England’s shootout victory over Switzerland in the 2019 UEFA Nations League finals.
While stressing that his primary responsibility remains stopping penalties rather than taking them, Pickford said he would be ready if the situation demanded.
“I want to focus on the savings as well,” he said. “So there is a balance. If called upon, I play for England, I represent the country, so I’ll step up and take it when needed. I’m keeping that work close to my chest. We’ll probably start implementing that a little bit, soon,” he added.
Pickford’s ability from the penalty spot has previously been acknowledged by former England manager Gareth Southgate, who praised the goalkeeper following his successful spot-kick against Switzerland in 2019.
“With the players that were left on the pitch, he was one of the leading penalty takers, and he executed it as well as he could,” Southgate had said.
“We weren’t against Jordan taking a penalty at the World Cup in Russia. A few others had probably shown a better level, but he would be among our better penalty takers. You feel more nervous putting a goalkeeper on a penalty, but he was there on merit,” he added.
England arrived in the United States earlier this week for the final phase of preparations ahead of the World Cup. The upcoming friendlies against New Zealand and Costa Rica are expected to help the squad fine-tune their plans before the start of the tournament.
The Three Lions will begin their Group L campaign against Croatia in Dallas on June 17 before taking on Ghana on June 23 and Panama on June 27. (ANI)
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