England will be praying their Euro 2016 clash against Iceland doesn’t come down to a penalty shootout.
Spot-kicks in major tournaments and England are a match made in hell. The Three Lions have not lost a knockout match at the European Championship that wasn’t via penalty shootout since 1968.
Four years ago it was Italy who knocked them out in the quarter-final stage via the “lottery”, in 2004 it was Portugal who held their nerve better from 12-yards out and in 1996, it was Gareth Southgate’s weak effort in the shootout that ended their tournament at the semi-final stage.
The odds will be firmly stacked against England should their round of 16 match against minnows Iceland remain level after extra time as Iceland’s number one appears to be a bit of a penalty-stopping specialist.
According to Norwegian newspaper Sandnesposten, Hannes Halldorsson has conceded just 42.7% penalties at club level since 2011. Of the 24 he’s faced, he’s saved nine and seen five others missed. Not to mention the fact that he’s already seen one spot-kick missed against him in this tournament, from Austria’s Aleksandar Dragovic.
Considering the “shootout curse” hasn’t shown any signs of lifting, this stat may mean a nervy last few minutes for England fans should Iceland manage to keep the scoreline level.
