Gareth Southgate hailed England’s character after what he described as their best performance of Euro 2024 in the quarter-final penalty shootout win against Switzerland.
Bukayo Saka cancelled out Breel Embolo’s opener to take the game to extra-time and onto penalties where Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Saka, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold all scored and Jordan Pickford saved Manuel Akanji’s opening effort for the Swiss as England reached the semi-finals.
It was a dramatic end to an edgy encounter and England’s first shoot-out win since beating the Swiss in the Nations League third-placed play-off five years ago in Portugal.
“I just thought the players were brilliant. It’s the best we have played,” Southgate told the BBC after the win.
Image: Jordan Pickford saves Manuel Akanji’s penalty
“I thought we caused them a lot of problems. They are a really good side. They are hard to press, they are hard to defend against, their movement is good.
“To come from behind again and show the character and resilience we did, talking to the players about that, winning tournaments isn’t just about playing well. It’s not just about that. You’ve got to show other attributes to win and we showed them all tonight.
Image: England players celebrate after defeating Switzerland on penalties to advance to the semi-finals of Euro 2024
“We played well today and we had to be tactically spot on. I don’t know what people think of us but we are in a third semi-final, so that says a lot about the group.
“We knew we needed to get pressure on their back three and that’s not easy without changing the shape. I thought the players were disciplined with it.
“I thought Phil was a real problem for them to pick up, Kobbie and Jude were finding those gaps on the side of their block. I thought we had good control. For some of the balls into the box, we probably needed more men in the box, but l thought it was the best that we have played.”
Southgate: No doubting Saka would take a pen
Saka missed the decisive penalty in the final of the last Euros against Italy at Wembley Stadium in 2021 as England fell just short in this competition last time around.
On Saka stepping up to take a penalty in the shootout and scoring this time, Southgate said: “So brave. He is one of our best, so we were never in any question that he was going to take one. But we all know what he went through.
Image: Bukayo Saka after scoring England’s equaliser against Switzerland
“To deliver as he did…. But not just him, Trent and Ivan, to come on and take them as they did; Cole, he’s like an old man in the way he is fearless. So a huge result for us, a huge performance, and we’re still in it.
“We played well today and we had to be tactically spot on. I don’t know what people think of us but we are in a third semi-final, so that says a lot about the group.”
Analysis: Saka shows his mettle and quality
Image: Bukayo Saka scores England’s equaliser against Switzerland
England would not be celebrating a place in the last four without Bukayo Saka. The Arsenal forward, England’s most dangerous player throughout the contest, scored a stunning equaliser during a player-of-the-match performance in Dusseldorf.
Even more impressive, though, was his willingness to then step up and take one of England’s penalties in the shootout, only three years after the miss that proved so costly in the final of Euro 2020. Not only that, he converted it too, demonstrating his quality and mettle to help England get over the line.
England’s Aaron Rai shares the lead at the halfway stage of the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic with countryman Harry Hall just a shot further back.
Rai – who topped the leaderboard going into the final round of last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic before eventually finishing in a tie for second behind Cameron Davis – shot a bogey-free, eight-under 63 in Illinois on Friday to rise to 14 under for the event.
CT Pan matched Rai’s efforts on the day – the Taiwanese player’s blemish-free round featured a 100-foot chip for eagle at the 14th – and he is locked with the Englishman at the head of the field.
Image: England’s Harry Hall registered five birdies on a blemish-free Friday
The pair are one stroke clear of Hall, who shot a five-under 66, and two better off than a group of six players on 12 under, including Hayden Springer and Sungjae Im.
Springer carded a 59 in his opening round but had to settle for an even-par 71 a day later as he missed a three-foot par putt and also carded a double-bogey late on at TPC Deere Run.
He said: “It wasn’t too bad. It was a little windier today, probably played a little tougher.
“I kind of hit some bumps on the back nine but more just mental errors and not making those short putts than anything else.”
The best of Hayden Springer’s first round at the John Deere Classic, as the American shot only the 14th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history
Rai continues fine form
Rai, Hall and Springer are each looking to land their first PGA Tour titles, although Rai has won twice on the DP World Tour, including at the 2020 Scottish Open when he beat Tommy Fleetwood in a play-off.
Rai said: “I’ve been playing well tee-to-green for large parts of this season and that’s kind of continued over the last few weeks.
Image: England’s Aaron Rai shot an eight-under 68 in the second round of the John Deere Classic
“A couple of weeks ago I spent quite a while on the green. My dad gave me a couple of tips.
“I’ve started working with John Graham as well, a putting coach who is based out here. Putting all that together has definitely translated onto the course.”
Image: CT Pan’s sole victory on the PGA Tour to date came at the 2019 RBC Heritage when he beat Matt Kuchar by one stroke
Two-time John Deere Classic champion Jordan Spieth notched two late birdies to make the cut with a four-under 67 but is eight shots adrift heading into the weekend at six under par.
The 2013 and 2015 winner said: “We had yesterday morning with no wind and a chance to really take advantage.
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“I had 18 holes of a couple under yesterday, and unless you’re absolutely perfect from there, there is not much of a chance of winning.
“That doesn’t mean you don’t go out and try and shoot 10 under the next day.”
Watch the third round of the John Deere Classic live on Sky Sports Golf from 5pm on Saturday. Coverage of the final round then begins at 5pm on Sunday.
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Here’s a quiz question: What do the 2022 World Cup final, the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations final, the 2020 European Championship final and the 2016 Copa America final have in common?
Answer: They were all settled by a penalty shoot-out.
“There are so many things you can do to prepare your team for penalties, to train them for penalties, to help your players and team cope with the pressure of penalties,” says Geir Jordet, professor at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences and author of the recently-published book, “Pressure: Lessons from the Psychology of the Penalty Shoot-out.”
England have had so many penalty heartaches down the years – not least in the last Euro final when they lost 3-2 to Italy on penalties – with their 2-7 overall record the worst in the history of the tournament, while if you also include the World Cup, the Three Lions’ numbers are even worse, with two wins from nine.
“You can do this as an individual, as a team, as a manager,” he adds.
Just this year, France coach Didier Deschamps railed against an attempt by the French Football Federation to come up with an initiative to improve the team’s performance in shoot-outs. France lost in them in the last 16 at Euro 2020 and in the 2022 World Cup final against Argentina.
“I’m convinced – and my past as a player gives me this information – that it’s impossible to recreate a situation, on a psychological level, between training and a match,” Deschamps said.
Image: Will Chelsea’s Cole Palmer take a penalty for England if their Euro 2024 quarter-final with Switzerland goes to a shoot-out?
Jordet acknowledged that, but said it is “absurd” to not try to simulate these pressure situations in training.
“There are studies showing that training with mild anxiety will prepare you and help you perform better under conditions of high anxiety,” he said, before looking at other professions and areas of work.
“If you look at military training – in peacetime, which is what we’re used to, should they train for war activities and the pressure and stress of being in a conflict, or should they just sit back and say we cannot simulate the pressure and the stress of being in an active firefight? That’s absurd. It’s the same case with pilots or if you look at surgeons or ER doctors.”
Image: Argentina’s Gonzalo Montiel scores the winning penalty in the 2022 World Cup final against France
Jordet has looked specifically at penalty shoot-outs at the last World Cup and how coaches managed the two minutes they had with their players between extra-time finishing and the shoot-out starting. He noted the winning teams “without exception” were those whose coaches took the shortest time giving their instructions.
In the final, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni’s nomination process took 15 seconds, Jordet said, because his team was prepared.
He added: “Deschamps spent almost 20 seconds considering who should take the shot for each of his penalty takers, looking around, showing basically how little clarity he had about what to do. It was probably something his players would pick up on as well.”
EUROS HISTORY
There have been 22 shoot-outs at the Euros, including four in 1996 and 2020. Of the 232 shots taken in the shoot-outs, 178 were successful – a 76.7 per cent success rate. That fits the data models which typically say the expected success of a penalty is 0.76 per cent (that is, 76 out of 100 penalties would typically be scored).
GO FIRST OR SECOND?
So much for the widely-held perception that the team going second in a shoot-out is at a disadvantage for being under extra pressure. The latest major study of penalties, covering men’s competitions in European football over the last 11 years, showed the winning percentage of the team shooting first in penalty kicks was 48.83 per cent. Jordet said the advantage has “progressively and dramatically shrunk” compared to older research, some of which said there was around a 60 per cent chance of the team going first winning.
TEAM ORDERS
Image: France’s Kylian Mbappe was successful from the spot in his side’s loss to Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final
That same study showed the first kick is scored in shoot-outs more often than any other (nearly 84 per cent) and is typically delivered by the most reliable penalty taker. Messi and Kylian Mbappe took the first two kicks in the World Cup final shoot-out, for example.
The likelihood of success by a team’s second taker dips to as low as around 72 per cent, the study says, while the fifth kicker of the team shooting second has not gotten to take a penalty in 43.26 per cent of shoot-outs. Placing your best taker at No 5 in the list is dangerous, then – just ask Cristiano Ronaldo, who never got to take a penalty when Portugal lost a shoot-out to Spain in the Euro 2012 semi-finals, and Mohamed Salah, who was left stranded as his Egypt team lost the Africa Cup of Nations final in 2021.
TACTICS
Watch out for gamesmanship around shoot-outs or regular penalties. Opponents have been seen attempting to scuff the turf around the spot in the hope of causing the taker to slip. That has led on some occasions to players from the team awarded the penalty gathering around the spot to protect the turf. Another recent phenomenon is one player holding on to the ball near the spot when a penalty has been awarded and then passing it, at the last minute, to the team-mate taking the kick.
Image: Tim Krul was the Netherlands’ hero in their shoot-out win against Costa Rica in the 2014 World Cup
“It’s about making the individual act of shooting a penalty into a collective team performance,” Jordet said. There also have been numerous examples of back-up goalkeepers or outfield players being brought on as a substitute late in extra-time because they have a better record in penalties than the regular starter. See Netherlands goalkeeper Tim Krul at the 2014 World Cup and Australia goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.
NEW TECHNIQUE
Image: England captain Harry Kane has a new penalty-taking technique
There is a new dominant penalty technique – and it is not for the faint-hearted. It involves the taker approaching the ball and waiting for the goalkeeper to make the first move. What invariably becomes a stutter-step routine has been called the “goalkeeper-dependent technique” by experts like Jordet. “It’s very sophisticated and hard to perform when the pressure’s truly on,” he said. “If you’re competent at executing this technique, this will effectively delete the risk factor of the goalkeeper going in the right direction and your odds suddenly going down.”
Poland captain Robert Lewandowski has been using it since 2016 – and used it against France in the group stage at Euro 2024 – and Harry Kane is a recent adopter.
PROVEN PEDIGREE
Image: England’s Jadon Sancho missed from the spot in the Euro 2021 final loss to Italy at Wembley
History suggests Germany might be the best penalty-taking team in Europe, having won all six of their shoot-outs since losing the European Championship’s first to Czechoslovakia in the 1976 final. Conversely, there is England, who have had so many penalty heartaches down the years – not least in the last Euro final when they lost 3-2 to Italy on penalties – with their 2-7 overall record the worst in the history of the tournament, while if you also include the World Cup, the Three Lions’ numbers are even worse, with two wins from nine. Meanwhile, the Netherlands (2-6) have not fared much better.
Speaking of England, Gareth Southgate’s side take on Switzerland in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 on Saturday afternoon in what looks on paper to be an evenly-contested clash that could very well go all the way to penalties in Dusseldorf.
If that is the case, then as mentioned previously, England have the worst penalty shoot-out record of any side still left in the tournament, which does not bode well for their chances of winning the Euros.
However, if the last-eight tie is decided by the dreaded spot-kicks at the ESPRIT Arena on Saturday, then let’s hope Southgate has heeded the above advice and prepared his players in advance.
And if, as is likely, the England manager has been practising in training this week, then it would also be a surprise were he and his coaching team not to know the statistics around who are the Three Lions’ most successful penalty takers.
If not, then a new study has revealed Cole Palmerhas the best penalty record of any player in the England squad. Sports analytics platform Tips.gg examined the penalty records of the 13 England players at Euro 2024 who have taken a career penalty, excluding shoot-outs. The players were then ranked based on the highest to lowest conversion rates.
Image: Cole Palmer scores from the spot in England’s recent friendly win against Bosnia
Palmer has the best penalty record of any player in the squad. The 2023/24 Young Player of the Season enjoyed an impressive debut season at Chelsea, scoring nine goals from the spot. Palmer, who has a perfect conversion rate of 100 per cent from 14 penalties, last scored a penalty during England’s pre-tournament 3-0 friendly win against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Rank
Player
Penalties Scored
Penalties Missed
Conversion Rate
1
Cole Palmer
14
0
100.00%
2
Conor Gallagher
5
0
100.00%
3
Trent Alexander-Arnold
4
0
100.00%
4
Jude Bellingham
3
0
100.00%
5
Ivan Toney
30
2
93.75%
6
Eberechi Eze
7
1
87.50%
7
Harry Kane
74
11
87.06%
8
Bukayo Saka
12
2
85.71%
8
Anthony Gordon
6
2
75.00%
10
Jarrod Bowen
6
3
66.67%
11
Ollie Watkins
4
5
44.44%
12
Declan Rice
1
2
33.33%
13
Kieran Tripper
0
2
0.00%
Meanwhile, Conor Gallagher has also been faultless from the spot so far in his career, converting each of his five penalties. Despite a 100 per cent success rate, his last match penalty came in the U18 Premier League back in January 2018.
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jude Bellingham also boast a 100 per cent penalty conversion rate, scoring four and three penalties respectively. Like Gallagher, Alexander-Arnold’spenalty success has come in games at youth level, where he was prolific from the spot for England in the Euro U19 qualifiers back in 2016/17. Bellingham’s most recent penalty success came when scoring in Real Madrid’s 3-2 win againstAlmeriain January.
Ivan Toney rounds off the five England players with the best penalty conversion rate. The Brentford striker has been successful from the spot on 30 out of 32 occasions, with a conversion rate of 93.75 per cent. His last success was back in March in England’s 2-2 draw with Belgium.
Image: Ivan Toney has an excellent penalty record with Brentford and England
Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze has a success rate of 87.50 per cent from eight penalties, while England captain and penalty-taker Kane – with his new aforementioned stuttering technique – has converted 87.06 per cent of his 85 spot-kicks.
And finally, Kieran Trippier has the worst penalty record of any player in the England squad. The Newcastle defender is yet to score from the spot after missing each of his two attempts at former clubs Tottenham and Atletico Madrid.
England’s Richard Bland won his second consecutive senior major title with a nerve-wracking victory in the US Senior Open.
Bland edged out Japan’s Hiroyuki Fujita on the second hole of sudden death after the pair had finished tied on 13 under par and could not be separated by a two-hole aggregate play-off.
Both men parred the first hole of sudden death before returning to the 18th, where Bland hit the pin with his third shot from a greenside bunker to leave a tap-in par for victory after Fujita narrowly missed his own par attempt.
“This is very special,” Bland said at the presentation ceremony. “I’m struggling to put this into words right now.”
Fujita held a three-shot lead after 10 holes when the final round was suspended due to dangerous weather on Sunday afternoon.
At that point the 55-year-old had made just two bogeys all week, but when play resumed on Monday he dropped shots on the 11th, 12th and 14th as Bland – in the group ahead – followed a bogey on the 13th with birdies on 14 and 15.
That gave Bland a one-shot lead but he bogeyed the 18th and could only look on as Fujita came agonisingly close to holing a long birdie putt for the win.
“I made a great birdie on 15 to go one in front but kind of tried to trip over myself on the last and was just thankful to get in the play-off,” Bland said.
“The trap shot was one of those you could be really aggressive with and I’m just thrilled beyond words to be stood here. To go two-for-two [in senior majors] is beyond my wildest dreams.”
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Bland dedicated his Senior PGA Championship win in May to his brother Heath, who was diagnosed with stomach cancer just over a year ago and recently learned he had cancer in the lungs.
Speaking as he cradled the US Open trophy, Bland joked: “He can have the PGA but I’m sorry, he’s not going to get this one out of my hands. This one’s staying in my house.”
Bland won his first DP World Tour event in his 478th start in the 2021 British Masters and joined LIV Golf during its debut season in 2022.
As things stand, the 51-year-old will be unable to contest the Senior Open at Carnoustie later this month as he is contracted to play the LIV event near Uttoxeter in the same week.
What’s next?
The next two PGA Tour Champions events are both majors, with the Kaulig Companies Championship taking place at Firestone CC in Akron, Ohio from July 11-14 before The Senior Open is played at Carnoustie from July 25-28. Stream the PGA Tour, majors and more with NOW.
Michael Smith hit back at comments from Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright and admitted talk from the two-time world champion spurred him to victory at the World Cup of Darts.
Smith partnered world No 1 Luke Humphries for the pairs event in Frankfurt, where England defeated Austria 10-6 in the final to claim a fifth World Cup title.
They were top seeds for the four-day event but had come under scrutiny pre-tournament about whether they would work well together in the team event, while Wright said ahead of their semi-final clash that Scotland would “smash up England”.
Smith and Humphries saw off the Scottish pair 8-4 to secure their spot in the final, where they claimed the first England win since Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis in 2016, with ‘Bully Boy’ criticising Wright’s form in his World Cup winners’ press conference.
“Before the semi-final, Peter Wright walked past, asking Luke how his shoulder,” said Wright. “The guy’s just averaged 78 and he’s tried giving me s***?
Watch the moment England won their record-breaking fifth World Cup of Darts title after defeating Austria and their entertaining trophy lift
“I was like, ‘what are you doing?’ And then had an argument, or not an argument, but tried to give a bit of banter behind the stage. It’s just the same as everything else.
“That guy should have some strong shoulders because he’s been holding the Premier League up for two years.
Referee Kirk Bevins ruled that Gary Anderson stepped over the oche throwing his final dart leading to confusion in Scotland’s World Cup semi-final against England
“He annoyed me today and I think that spurred me on in that semi-final. I’ve never given it that large ever.
“I needed to get that out because it really annoyed me.”
Live World Matchplay Darts
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How England claimed World Cup glory
The title favourites raced into a 5-1 lead over 2021 runners-up Rowby-John Rodriguez and Mensur Suljovic, Humphries taking out 151 in the sixth leg and 121 in the next before Austria hit back to reduce their deficit to 6-4.
A 180 from Humphries then set up Smith, who had struggled with his doubles early on, to take out double 15 before finishes of 130 and 112 from Humphries took England to the brink of victory.
Luke Humphries slammed in 151, 121, 130 and 112 checkouts as he shone during England’s victory in the World Cup of Darts final against Austria
Suljovic took out 98 to keep the match alive but Smith sealed the win on double eight in the next leg.
“I felt the biggest buzz I’ve had since the Worlds,” Humphries told Sky Sports. “We really wanted this, we really believed we could win it. You’ve got a cheat code, the world No1 and No 3 against the field, it’s quite tough for everyone else but after that first game we played and we clicked.”
Humphries and Michael Smith share their reaction after their World Cup of Darts triumph against Austria which saw the champions end an eight-year wait for the title
Smith was full of praise for team-mate Humphries, adding: “How good was this man in the final? He hit everything. My [double] tops was non-existent and every single shot I left him, bang, bang, bang…. thank you so much mate, you’ve just got me the gold medal.”
What’s next on Sky Sports?
The 2024 Betfred World Matchplay will take place from July 13-21 at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool. The iconic summer tournament will see 32 of the world’s top stars battling it out across nine days for the Phil Taylor Trophy and £800,000 in prize money.
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England’s Alice Hewson secured her second Ladies European Tour title after beating India’s Tvesa Malik in a play-off in the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open.
The 26-year-old birdied the first extra hole after the pair had finished tied on 11-under par following an extraordinary finish to the final round at Golfpark Holzhausern.
Hewson slam dunked a bunker shot for an eagle on the 17th and then birdied the last to overhaul Ireland’s Lauren Walsh, who had set the clubhouse target of 10 under following a brilliant 64.
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Malik then amazingly also holed out from the same bunker on the 17th for eagle and matched Hewson’s birdie on the last to force a play-off, which the Englishwoman wrapped up in style with another birdie, and moved up to fifth place in the LET Order of Merit.
“I’m a little bit lost for words really,” said Hewson, whose previous win came in the Investec South African Women’s Open in 2020.
“Huge congrats to Tvesa as well. It was an unreal finish from her today. It was an honour being out there with her in the play-off. It feels a bit surreal. It’s been a while since I’ve been in this situation.
“Coming from my first-ever event on Tour [which I won], to now, it’s been a journey. A lot of ups and downs. I’m lost for words.”
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Jamie Smith produced the perfect dress rehearsal for his England debut on day one of Surrey’s top-of-the-table Vitality County Championship clash with Essex.
Named on Sunday morning as the only wicketkeeper in England’s 14-man squad for the first Test against the West Indies a week on Wednesday, Smith (100) struck his second century of the season.
The 23-year-old hit two sixes and 14 fours during his outing as the hosts reached 248-8 on a rain-shortened day at The Oval.
Keaton Jennings’ (183no) fourth hundred of the campaign steered Lancashire to 344-8 against Nottinghamshire at Southport after the visitors threatened to take charge following lunch.
Lyndon James (3-53) shone with a three-for as a sell-out crowd were denied the opportunity of seeing James Anderson in action for Lancashire one more time.
Hampshire skipper James Vince (149no) made his second century in a week against Kent at Utilita Bowl to help his side recover from 56-3 to end the day 310-3, alongside wicketkeeper-batter Ben Brown (106no) who also hit a century.
Warwickshire fought back against Somerset at Taunton with Michael Burgess’ (126no) century helping the Bears recover from 40-4 to 373-8 at the close of play.
Somerset seamer Migael Pretorius (4-72) finished on a four-fer whilst Jack Leach (2-69) earned two scalps.
Wickets clattered at Chester-le-Street as Durham were all out for 190 with England’s Test captain Ben Stokes (56) reaching a half-century.
Stokes (1-23) removed Worcestershire skipper Libby (13) as the hosts were bowled out for 112 in reply with Matthew Potts (4-29) and Ben Raine (3-33) taking the bulk of the wickets. Durham reached 33-3 at the close to carve out a lead of 111.
Division Two
In Division Two, Sussex’s Ollie Robinson (4-42) bounced back from being overlooked for England’s Test squad against Northamptonshire.
Robinson finished with a four-fer as the hosts were dismissed for 97 on an eventful day at Northampton.
Image: Ollie Robinson finished with a four-fer after Sussex’s meeting with Northamptonshire
On a day which saw 22 wickets fall, Sussex had themselves been bowled out for 143 with Jack White (4-23) taking four as the visitors lost six wickets for 47 runs in 19 overs – and closed at 83-2 and a lead of 129.
Yorkshire’s Sri Lanka pace bowler Vishwa Fernando (5-30) helped skittle Derbyshire for 76 at Chesterfield with the help of Jordan Thompson (4-31) as Derbyshire subsided on a challenging surface in less than 28 overs.
Yorkshire turned the screw with James Wharton (116no) racing to a maiden first-class hundred before bad light ended play leaving the tourists on 283-5 with a commanding lead of 207.
Ben Mike’s (5-22) produced a career-best spell to enable Leicestershire to dismiss Middlesex for 86.
Loan signing Ben Green (4-28) also posted personal-best figures with only Leus Du Plooy (28) and Sam Robson (10) reaching double figures.
Leicestershire had earlier made 179 with Lewis Goldsworthy (41) top scoring and reached stumps at 40-1 in their second innings, 133 ahead.
Gloucestershire recovered from 88-8 at lunch to post 179 in their first innings against Glamorgan at Cheltenham.
Marchant de Lange (46no) shared a record-breaking last-wicket stand of 75 with Ajeet Singh Dale (32) as Glamorgan’s Timm van der Gugten (5-59) returned season-best figure.
Glamorgan finished an astonishing day 133-7, with Gloucestershire’s overseas all-rounder Beau Webster (3-16) enjoying a three-wicket burst in 12 balls.
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When coaches, team-mates and those who know Marc Guehi well are asked about the strengths of the centre-back, it is his composure which is routinely referenced.
So perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise the 23-year-old has performed so well at Euro 2024. One of the Premier League’s most promising young defenders has taken to the tournament stage seamlessly and has been arguably England’s best performer in Germany so far. Certainly one of their most consistent. Amid all the drama he has been a steady, assured presence at the heart of the defence.
Before the Euros, there were serious concerns about the quality of England’s backline and added worry about Harry Maguire – who, for all his critics, is the leader of that defence – being ruled out with injury. But Guehi and his more experienced centre-back partner John Stones, have helped Gareth Southgate’s side post the best defensive figures of any team in the competition so far. It is at the other end of the pitch where Southgate has bigger problems.
It is perhaps typical of Guehi’s character that when he was asked about those defensive stats and his performances he was quick to dismiss the suggestion he has been England’s best player and pay credit to Maguire for his help in helping him settle at international level since his debut in 2022.
But that modesty only masks a determination and drive to Guehi’s personality which has taken him to the top of the game and led different coaches in club and international football to name him captain of their sides.
Marc Guehi pays homage to the England boss Gareth Southgate as he looks ahead to the game against Slovakia
A skipper of the England age groups and a stand-in captain at Crystal Place at 21, Guehi is a player who leads his team-mates by example.
“Straight away I was impressed by how mature he is,” said England U21s boss Lee Carsley when he named him captain. “The way he talks about the game, the way he influences players off the pitch. The example he sets off the pitch as well as on it made it an easy choice.” England seniors boss Gareth Southgate has praised him for never looking rushed.
They are traits that have been there since the start. “When Marc was here he was calm, he was kind, he was intelligent, he worked hard and he was a real team player,” Guehi’s former primary school head teacher Edward Dove told Sky Sports News.
Sky Sports News’ James Cole visits Marc Guehi’s primary school to see where it all began for the England centre-back
That was the young boy Michael Beale got to know well. The former Rangers boss was a leading coach in Chelsea’s academy and took Guehi – a kid from the same south east London estate and primary school as Beale – under his wing.
Beale got to know Guehi’s father, John, a minister, and would even drive Guehi around the M25 to Cobham, where the young defender enthusiastically listened, learnt and developed among an elite group of rising stars.
“He was a really shy boy but came to life on the pitch,” Beale tells Sky Sports. “He was a hugely well-mannered young man. I can’t think of too many stories of mischief!
“His discipline has been driven by the family but even when he was very young compared to the other boys he was always very focused, working hard in every session. He never missed a session that I can remember.”
That attitude was coupled with a hunger to defend.
Image: Marc Guehi has shown a hunger to defend from a young age
“He was always a defender,” remembers Beale. “He was like a rash on the forwards, aggressive in the tackle. He liked to keep his game very simple and then pass it to the midfielders or into the forwards quite quickly and he hasn’t changed from that.
“You see how aggressive he is ‘locking down’ and stealing possession. But he’s very calm when he’s defending.”
At Chelsea, and then on loan at Swansea and Crystal Palace, Guehi played with Conor Gallagher. “It seems like we can’t leave each other alone,” the midfielder has joked. “We’re best mates.”
They are now England colleagues at this Euros and the depth of quality in that Chelsea academy is partly responsible for helping to shape them into internationals and leading Premier League players. Declan Rice, who also started for the Three Lions against Slovenia, was another player in that academy.
“Chelsea at the time and still is a fantastic academy,” says Beale. “We did a lot of work going around London to get the best players across all of the boroughs.
“Look at the players in the age groups in and around Marc’s: Mason Mount, Declan Rice, Fikayo Tomori, Ola Aina, Tammy Abraham, Dominic Solanke, Reece James, Rhian Brewster, Callum Hudson-Odoi…
“When you had that mix of players, the academy fixtures here in the UK but also going further afield and playing in Europe, the experience that they got playing together and how strong a bond those boys got is fantastic.
“They pushed each other on. The training games were always the best games of the week.
A look at centre-back Marc Guehi’s best bits from the 2023-24 campaign
Like many of those players listed above, Guehi had to leave Chelsea to find regular first-team football but he is now being linked with a summer transfer which would take him to the top end of the Premier League. Manchester United and Liverpool are rumoured to be interested in a transfer.
The centre-back isn’t the biggest defender in the league at 6ft and he is a right-footer playing on the left side of a backline, but Beale is confident Guehi would cope with that transition to one of the country’s biggest clubs, pointing to his technical skills in the position
“His reading of the game and his athleticism gets him a yard on his centre-forward,” says Beale.
Image: Marc Guehi has been one of England’s top performers at the Euros
“He shows a huge amount of confidence to play on the left side and his technical upbringing from Chelsea means he can use his left foot, albeit he is dominant on his right foot.
“When you see the teams line up, he’s not the biggest centre-back but he has a huge leap.
“Quietly people are realising we have an absolute gem in him.”
He might be too humble to sing his own praises, but Guehi has plenty of people talking about him now.
Phil Foden has temporarily left England’s Euro 2024 camp and returned to the UK due to a “pressing family matter”, the Football Association (FA) has confirmed.
The Manchester City midfielder started all three of England’s group-stage matches in Germany as Gareth Southgate’s side advanced by finishing top of Group C.
But the FA said in a brief statement on Wednesday that Foden would leave the team’s GolfResort Weimarer Land base near Erfurt for a spell.
No information has yet been provided about when the player might return.
England will discover their last-16 fate on Wednesday evening, with either the Netherlands or the third-placed team in Group E their first knock-out opponents in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday (5pm kick-off, UK time).
More to follow…
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England bowler Ollie Robinson conceded a County Championship-record 43 runs in an over while playing for Sussex against Leicestershire at Hove.
Robinson was taken for six fours and two sixes by Louis Kimber, with three boundaries coming off no-balls, in an eye-wateringly expensive nine-ball over in which he also shipped a single.
Earlier in the week, England spinner Shoaib Bashir – who is currently on loan at Worcestershire from Somerset – conceded 38 runs in an over against Surrey, including five Dan Lawrence sixes.
Image: There was only one winner of this battle in Hove!
At that point, Bashir’s over was the joint-most expensive in Championship history, equalling the 38 runs Alex Tudor was taken for when Surrey played Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford, of which a young Andrew Flintoff struck 34.
But Robinson now has the unwanted record outright after being taken apart by Leicestershire batter Kimber, who clinched a 62-ball century during the carnage having begun the over 72 not out from 56 deliveries.
Shoaib Bashir shipped 38 runs in an over on Monday as he was taken apart by Surrey’s Dan Lawrence while playing for Worcestershire
Robinson and Bashir could conceivably be in England’s XI for the first Test against West Indies at Lord’s from July 10, live on Sky Sports, so the touring batters may be licking their lips!
How the record-breaking over panned out…
Ball 1 – Kimber pulls a six over deep backward square leg
Ball 2 – Kimber clubs a four in a similar spot off a no-ball
Ball 3 – A Robinson bouncer is cracked to deep third for four
Ball 4 – Kimber nails Robinson for six over backward square
Ball 5 – Another four for Kimber, through square leg
Ball 6 – Kimber clinches century with off-side four, off no-ball
Ball 7 – Kimber drills four through mid-on
Ball 8 – Another no-ball by Robinson is cover-driven for four
Ball 9 – A pulled single for Kimber
Image: Robinson could play a key role in the England Test side this summer
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