Crystal Palace No.10 Ebere Eze has now spoken about his emotions as England prepared to take penalties against Switzerland at UEFA Euro 2024.
The £17m man did not need to take a penalty himself thanks to Jordan Pickford saving Manuel Akanji’s spot kick, although his 100% record for Crystal Palace suggests he would have been more than ready.
So, how was Ebere Eze feeling as England prepared for the penalty shootout against Switzerland? Let’s take a look…
Ebere Eze discusses England shootout
The 26-year-old hopped into England’s Diary Room alongside Ezri Konsa after the Three Lions reached the UEFA Euro 2024 semi-finals, where he shared what “surprised” him ahead of the penalty shootout.
Eze said: “I was surprised at how calm that area was. Just preparing to take the penalties and give positions, that was quite encouraging in the moment.”
Gareth Southgate and his coaching staff clearly implemented some tactics ahead of the clash against Switzerland, as England players appeared to be utilising a system in which each taker was assigned a buddy.
For example, John Stones could be seen walking out of the line to meet Bukayo Saka after the Arsenal No.7 dispatched his penalty before chaperoning him back to the group, while others were seen collecting the ball for their teammate, presumably so Switzerland’s players couldn’t mess around and get inside their head.
It was a refreshingly un-England approach to a penalty shootout at a major tournament, a situation in which we often see failure occur rather than success.
Crystal Palace No.10 played his part
Eze probably expected to be involved in a disappointing evening for England on Saturday after Southgate threw him on in place of Kieran Trippier with 12 minutes remaining, as the Three Lions trailed 1-0.
However, Saka’s 80th minute equaliser gave the Crystal Palace maestro a total of 42 minutes to impress as the game went to extra-time, and he did exactly that.
As SofaScore shows, Eze impressively completed 18 of his 19 passes – something Gary Lineker alluded to afterwards when stating that the attacking midfielder simply “does not give the ball away” – while he also won two out of three attempted ground duels playing on the left of the backline.
To deliver such a strong performance in tough circumstances, while playing at left wing-back no less, is quite the effort from Eze, and if England go all the way this summer, he will have richly deserved his medal.
