England take Nations League third place on penalties
England deservedly claimed the consolation prize of third place at the Nations League 6-5 on penalties yesterday after a 0-0 draw against a limited Switzerland in Guimaraes. Gareth Southgate’s men dominated the 120 minutes in northern Portugal, but Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Raheem Sterling all hit the woodwork, Callum Wilson saw a late goal ruled out by VAR and Yann Sommer made a string of saves.
England were faultless from the spot, scoring all six of their spot-kicks before Josip Drmic was denied by Jordan Pickford. After years of disappointment in shootouts, Southgate’s side have now won two in 12 months after also edging past Colombia in the last 16 of last year’s World Cup.
Southgate made seven changes to the side that started Thursday’s 3-1 semi-final defeat to Netherlands with six of those involved in last weekend’s Champions League final returning. Harry Kane was restored as captain and nearly made an impact inside two minutes, cheekily chipping Sommer, but the Swiss goalkeeper just touched the ball onto the crossbar.
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