Trent Alexander-Arnold was caught letting slip that one England star didn’t want to take a penalty in the Three Lions’ win over Switzerland.
Gareth Southgate’s side advanced to the semi finals after a nerve shredding win over the Swiss and will face Holland next Wednesday in Dortmund.
England looked set for a tame exit when they trailed with 10 minutes of normal time remaining, only for Bukayo Saka to rescue a game that looked like slipping away with a sensational long range strike.
A goalless 30 minutes of extra-time came and went before the contest was settledon penalties with England prevailing 5-3.
Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji was the only player to miss, denied by Jordan Pickford, with all five of England’s takers beating Jan Sommer from 12 yards.
Alexander-Arnold, a late substitute in extra-time, thumped home the decisive penalty after Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Ivan Toney had all converted.
Caught in conversation with his family after the game, however, the Liverpool full-back let slip that not everyone was keen to try their luck from the spot, saying: ‘He didn’t want to take one.’
Given his miss in the final three years ago against Italy, Saka was singled out for praise by Southgate who had nothing bud admiration for the Arsenal star who was prepared to go through the ringer again.
‘He’s a dream to work with, he’s a fabulous boy, such a good professional, so much fun to be around,’ said Southgate. ‘Does an amazing job with and without the ball.
‘They’ve all had to go in there and they’re young players in extreme pressure situations but we felt with the players we had on the pitch they were the best to take the penalties.’
Saka, himself, added: ‘Obviously for myself, I believe we have some of the best takers in the Premier League and the world, if it did come to penalties we would be confident – we showed that today.
‘For me, it is something I embrace – you can fail once and you have a choice if you are going to put yourself in that position again, I believed in myself and when the ball hit the net I was a very happy man
‘I am not going to be focused on the past, that is done, I can only focus on now. I know there were a lot of nervous people watching, my family included, but I kept my cool.
‘There are two more games, we can change our lives and make history – we are going to watch the game and see who we are facing.’
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