Gareth Southgate has admitted he could face “another layer of difficulty” when it comes to choosing penalty takers over fears they could suffer racist abuse.
Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were all subjected to vile online taunts after missing in the Euros final shoot-out last summer. Southgate admitted he was wracked with guilt afterwards about putting the players in that position but says it would not be right to pick penalty takers based on the colour of their skin.
When it was put to Southgate, the England boss said: “I have to say it never crossed my mind before. We’ve got 55 years of talking about penalties and everything else. So we’ve now got another layer that’s going to make it extremely difficult for us to win anything.
“But it wouldn’t be right to not pick the players you think are best to take them because of what the possible consequences of them missing would be. I’ve got to pick them on the belief they are going to score.”
It is clearly another hurdle for England to overcome before Qatar even if Southgate admits the whole discussion is “ludicrous”. England’s record in penalty shoot-outs has been heartbreaking in the past including losing the Euros final last summer and Southgate admits part of the issue is only having Harry Kane as their recognised taker for his club.
Southgate added: “We know that’s ludicrous. We know that’s outrageous to even think about. I’m trying to balance whether the question is about the racism itself, which is abhorrent and unacceptable, and what you’re identifying, that there’s another layer of complexity in making that decision. We went through a process of preparing for penalties. We’ve definitely reviewed that.
“Some of the boys have taken more with their clubs. Reece James has, I think, had four in shootouts this year. Trent Alexander-Arnold has had two.
“Bukayo has now taken a couple for his club, which were massively courageous moments that epitomised what he’s about.
“But indirectly, we have created another layer of difficulty in overcoming a penalty shootout. I have got to take all of those things into consideration and it is incredibly complex.”
