Football Food For Thought / Ralph Ellis / 26 June 2009 /

As England's Under 21 team prepare for their semi-final showdown against Sweden, Ralph Ellis looks at Stuart Pearce's scientific approach to the distinct possibility of having to settle the issue via spot-kicks.

Before any big competition it's easy to get caught up in the hype. When Glenn Hoddle was getting ready to take his team to the 1998 World Cup he claimed they were the best prepared England side ever to leave these shores. And we believed him.

A few weeks later I was sat in the stands at St Etienne watching David Batty walk up to take - and miss - a penalty against Argentina, after volunteering to be responsible for the fifth kick. This was the same David Batty who had told me a few days earlier he'd never taken a spot kick in his life, not even in training, and never wanted to!

I thought of those claims when I read Stuart Pearce's quotes this morning about his approach to a possible shootout against Sweden in the European Under 21 semi-final tonight. Pearce, as a battle scarred veteran of three semi-final defeats for his country as both player and manager, certainly won't be repeating Hoddle's mistakes.

Two years after watching his kids lose 13-12 in an epic sudden death encounter against Holland, he's learned more lessons. "In the past the manager would walk into the centre circle and ask: 'Who fancies it?'. That ain't exactly science, is it?

"I have a list of one to 23 penalty takers. I know the order in which we take them. I know my best penalty takers and my worst. The players will have no choice in the matter. Absolutely not. We've analysed the direction in which players take penalties, the most successful way for each player, their success rate and the keeper's technique in saving them. We've looked at all the Swedish penalty takers too. There are no guarantees but if I didn't go to this level of thoroughness I would not be able to walk away feeling I'd done all I could."

Pearce has already shown he's learned about tournament football as a manager, and his decision to rest the entire squad in the last group game against Germany paid dividends. He goes into tonight's game with all 23 in his squad both fit and available to pick from. It suggests he's gaining from working alongside Fabio Capello with the senior squad, and the long term strategy of preparing him to step up to the top job is on target.

Delivering England's first significant trophy win in the 25 years since Dave Sexton's team won the European Under 21 crown would be another step on the road.

Pearce's team look decent value to win in normal time at [2.14], even against the hosts. Man for man they have enough Premier League experience and quality, and then it's down to how well their manager has thought out the tactics. They are as short as [1.54] to qualify, even if they don't make it without the need for penalties. At least if you back that, and end up biting your nails after extra time, you'll know that this time it really is the best prepared England side ever to leave these shores.

Five things you might not know about penalty shootouts

1.They weren't endorsed by UEFA until 1970, or by FIFA until six years later - but the Yugoslav Cup became the first major competition to try this method of settling drawn games as early as 1952

2.Despite this, both the Israeli and German FA claim one of their officials invented the idea. Israeli Yosef Dagan put forward his suggestion after watching his country lose the 1968 European Championship semi-final on the drawing of lots.

3.The first shootout in England was in the 1970 Watney Cup when Manchester United played Hull. George Best was the first player to score one - Denis Law the first to miss.

4.The British record for the longest shoot-out dates from a 2005 FA Cup clash between Tunbridge Wells and Littlehampton Town, which required 40 kicks and finished 16-15 to Tunbridge.

5.The world record is 48 kicks in the 2005 Namibian Cup when KK Palace beat Civics 17-16.

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>

:

:

:

?

: