Three Lions at 6/1 for more penalty pain in World Cup 2014

Currently being offered by Coral in their World Cup countdown special at 6/1 to be knocked out of the finals on penalties, the England camp have recently admitted Roy Hodgson has instructed them to practice their spot kicks in preparation for the finals in Brazil.

If the Three Lions can navigate their way out of a group containing Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica to reach the knockout stages of the tournament, history suggests Hodgson’s men are unlikely to emerge as the victors of a penalty shootout.

It’s official. Whilst Brazil can bask in the glow of winning the tournament more times than any other nation, England lay claim to a far less prestigious award, with the worst World Cup penalty shoot-out record in history.
Various generations of the Three Lions have all failed to hit the spot, losing on three occasions in 1990, 1998 and 2006.

Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle were the first culprits, as a Gary Lineker-led team bowed out to West Germany in the semi-finals of Italia 90.

England then suffered de-ja-vu with a further loss to a united German side in the 1996 European Championships, on home soil no less.

France 98 brought yet more heartbreak to the nation, as Paul Ince and David Batty contrived to hand bitter rivals Argentina a place in the semi-finals.

In an almost identical defeat to the 2004 European Championships, England crashed out of the quarter-finals of Germany 06 to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal. Even the usually reliable Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard saw their spot kicks saved.

For this England team, who are 25/1 to win the trophy outright, the memories of Andrea Pirlo’s brazen chip over Joe Hart still linger, as the squad succumbed to yet more penalty pressure.

Despite denials that these statistics are an unhealthy obsession in the Three Lions camp, rival nations will be licking their lips at the prospect of facing Roy Hodgson’s men in a shoot-out situation.

England may well receive the opportunity to exercise their demons in Brazil, but not many would bet on them succeeding.