Ivan Toney has said he will carry on with his “no-look” penalties at Euro 2024 after scoring his spot-kick against Switzerland. The Brentford striker was one of five England players to score in the shootout but the only one to do so without looking at the ball when he kicked it.
“I never look at the ball,” the Brentford striker said. “Considering it is my routine I just think it is what I do but some people may see it as crazy. But it is just my routine and I’ll stick to it. It’s been working and it can work whenever it is needed.”
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England are through to the semi-finals, where they face the Netherlands on Wednesday. The game against Switzerland finished 1-1 at full time after Bukayo Saka had cancelled out Breel Embolo’s opener. There were no goals in extra time, leading to the penalties, in which England were faultless.
Toney, when asked whether any of the England spot-kicks seemed saveable, said: “No, I don’t think they were but that is the quality we have. We all back ourselves on penalties and if it goes to that we have enough penalty takers to take one. I had confidence in all the boys and we deserved it in the end.
“I always have my own routine and just focus and do what I always do, which is take my time and roll it into the back of the net. What did I think as I was walking up? Make sure I score my penalty! [Initially] I felt like there was going to be another chance like in the last game [against Slovakia to win the game before penalties] but it didn’t happen. But we all believed in the penalty shootout and Picks [Jordan Pickford] made a great save to get us going and it was up to us to do the rest.”
Toney came on against Slovakia in the last 16 and set up Harry Kane for the winning goal and replaced the England captain after 109 minutes against Switzerland. “I am happy to play my part and patience is key,” Toney said. “I’m very impatient but I have had to be [patient] during this tournament. I know my time will come. Whether it is coming off the bench or start or take a penalty I’ve got to be ready for that.”