Reply To: England, Scotland and Wales.

[Heath]

But did he choose the wrong penalty takers? Penalty record of the players:

Taken more than 10:
Kane 47/55 – 85%
Rashford 17/19 – 89%
Sancho – 11/12 – 92%

So that’s 3 chosen.

Taken 5-10:
Sterling 4/9 – 44%
Maguire 4/8 – 50%

Maguire possible makes 4, Sterling not likely.

The rest:
Sakha 2/3 – 67%
Phillips 2/3 – 67%
Grealish 2/2 – 100%
Pickford, Shaw, Stones 1/1 – 100%

Southgate said the choices were based on practice. The evidence says he got it wrong because 3 missed, but so did Italy’s top penalty taker.

Based on records Kane, Rashford and Sancho were right, Maguire based on character. 2 out of these 4 missed leaves one other choice. He chose Sakha – he missed, I would have chosen Grealish or Phillips.