Is a BREATHING GURU the secret to England's new-found penalty success? Three Lions have hired a 'breath coach' for the Euros - and Declan Rice is telling stars to 'manifest' his methods

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England's secret to their faultless penalty shootout success at Euro 2024 could be a breathing guru flown into Germany to help the players keep their composure under pressure, it has been revealed today.

The Three Lions held their nerve to score five perfect spot-kicks and beat Switzerland in Dusseldorf, setting up a semi-final showdown against the Netherlands on Wednesday night.

Stuart Sandeman, a specialist Breathwork Trainer, spent time with the England squad in Germany during the tournament, holding a breathing session with the team.

The session was filmed, and showed stars such as Harry Kane appearing to drop off as they worked on calmer breathing. All the players were lying down with their eyes closed and head propped up with pillows.

Mr Sandeman, author of the international best seller Breathe In, Breathe Out, told the team that breathing deeply - in for five seconds and out for five seconds  'during high pressure moments' - helps 'let muscles, tissues, nerves and mind reset... so that when it’s time to switch back on, you’re able to perform at your best'.

Ivan Toney, Bukayo Saka and Trent Alexander-Arnold were all noticeably taking deep long breaths before taking their flawless penalties against Switzerland on Saturday night. 

Mr Sandeman says that it will give England the edge, and has urged people to put a bet on them to win Euro 2024 - in what would be the nation's first men's football trophy since the 1966 World Cup.

Also a DJ and bestselling author, Stuart Sandeman was with the England team in Germany last week and was given a shirt signed by the squad

Bukayo Saka and Trent Alexander-Arnold noticibly took deep breaths before scoring their penalties

The breathing guru could be the secret behind England's penalty success at Euro 2024, after the team scored 5 flawless pens against Switzerland

Stuart Sandeman, a breathing expert, was drafted in to help lead a recovery session

Players including Harry Kane (right) laid down on the floor and were taken through a number of breathing exercises

Breathwork is said to aid recovery for athletes and work on their fight or flight instinct, and the England team were seen relaxing during his lessons last week

Mr Sandeman was even handed a signed shirt by the squad on the eve of their win over Slovakia in Gelsenkirchen last Sunday, where Jude Bellingham scored his incredible overhead kick. 

He said: 'There’s no greater indication of the powerful link between breathing and performance than England including breathwork to aid the team’s recovery at Euro2024 after Sundays win. I’m humbled that they chose me to lead these sessions'. 

The history of the national side has been littered with heartache from 12 yards, with current boss Gareth Southgate himself seeing a penalty saved at Euro 96, but a renewed push to change the mentality in recent years has paid dividends.

Indeed, Southgate is said to have worked tirelessly to improve the psyche of his players ahead of shootouts. 

A team of analysts, led by a sports psychologist, were first drafted in and now, breathing expert Mr Sandeman has also been hired. Stuart's technique has been described as 'distinctive... designed to disrupt negative thought patterns, release tension, and increase flow.'

With the end goal of the work to help players take control of high-pressure situations surrounding penalties and avoid being scared of them, the squad have been tasked with taking deep breaths to regain calm and control before shooting.

Several players, including Bukayo Saka, visibly inhaled and exhaled purposefully during the shootout against the Swiss, which England won 5-3.

Expert Geir Jordet believes the work was noticeable.

'Some are told to do very deliberate conscious breathing, where they are focusing on deep diaphragmatic breaths that we know will bring on a cascade of constructive hormones and neurobiological processes in your brain and body,' he told AP.

Stuart Sandeman with his partner Nova Ayrton-Wright. A previous girlfriend, called Tiff, died from cancer in 2016 and it led to him looking into breathing techniques

England breathing guru Stuart Sandeman with Nova and Diary Of A CEO star Steven Bartlett

Three Lions players were pictured during a relaxing session held by Sandeman in the wake of their pulsating extra-time victory against Slovakia in the last-16. 

Sandeman, a BBC Radio 1 DJ and bestselling author, has worked in the profession for over eight years and first discovered the benefits of breathwork after his girlfriend tragically died from cancer in 2016. He later took his mother to a lesson.

The 41-year-old performance coach, who is now engaged to his partner Nova Ayrton-Wright, is also the founder of Breathpod.

His technique has been described as 'distinctive... designed to disrupt negative thought patterns, release tension, and increase flow.' 

Breathwork can aid recovery and help athletes work on their fight or flight instinct.

'The autonomous nervous system is split in two halves… how we're breathing really affects that on switch,' Sandeman told Misner. 

'Not only does breathing bring life into our body, but it triggers our state of being. 

'It affects how we feel, how we think, how our system works.' 

Declan Rice told his team-mates to manifest Sandeman's methods to keep their composure. Jude Bellingham scored an overhead kick in the last 30 seconds of the Slovakia game

Luke Shaw revealed after the win against Switzerland that Declan Rice had reminded his team-mates about the breathing techniques they had learned.

'Declan was our speaker, he was calming everyone down and telling them to do their breathing techniques and manifest them,' Shaw said. 'It was needed.'