Unexpectedly, Gary Lineker has advised Jordan Pickford to throw away his water bottle cheat sheet in case England needs to go to a penalty shootout again at Euro 2024.
Pickford was England’s hero on Saturday, defeating Switzerland with a key penalty save to secure their spot in the semi-finals under Gareth Southgate‘s team.
When the game ended 1-1, England easily converted all five of their penalty kicks thanks to an incredible save from Everton’s goalie down to his left side.
Following the shootout, it became apparent that Pickford had some assistance. Pictures showed that he had a cheat sheet, affixed to his water bottle, which showed the probable shooting positions of each Swiss player.
Next to Akanji’s name was the instruction ‘dive left’, which ultimately led to Pickford’s vital stop.
However, as England prepare for their crunch semi-final clash against the Netherlands on Wednesday, Lineker has urged Pickford to get rid of his water bottle to avoid being caught out by the opposition.
‘One player is going to look at that bottle,’ the former England striker said on the Rest is Football podcast.
‘If you are listening do it differently, do it on a different piece of paper or do it on the post.’
Declan Rice and Kyle Walker were singled out for recognition for assisting in guiding the squad through the nerve-wracking shootout, in addition to Pickford and the five successful England penalty shooters.
Dec was our speaker, and she did a great job of calming everyone down and encouraging them to use their breathing skills to manifest their goals. Luke Shaw, a full-back for Manchester United, was later called up.
“I believe Walker also provided some assistance to Pickford.” Walks was pointing to his left, as I could see. Walks pointed to that side, which provided him with more support.
“I believe he was headed that way anyway, but having the direction information gave him a little extra support.”