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Football

15th Oct 2018

Jordan Pickford says his blunder would have led to a ‘soft’ penalty

Jack O'Toole

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has said that his second-half blunder against Spain would have been a soft penalty if referee Szymon Marciniak had awarded Rodrigo a foul during England’s 3-2 win over Spain on Wednesday.

England took a 3-0 lead into half-time in Betis thanks to a two goal brace from Raheem Sterling, who ended his three-year goal drought in an England shirt with a quickfire double, and a strike from Marcus Rashford minutes before the interval.

Paco Alcácer pulled one back for the hosts just before the hour mark, before Sergio Ramos added a second goal deep into stoppage time, but Spain were somewhat unfortunate not to have won a penalty after striker Rodrigo dispossessed Pickford in his own box.

“If it was a penalty there we might argue the other way but I think it’s a bit soft given the lad hasn’t gone down,” Pickford told Sky Sports in his post-match interview. “That might have been the difference if he had went down but we got on with it with our mentality as a squad.

“It shows you the character we’ve got and in the pre-match interviews we were determined that we were going to go and win this game.”

The England goalkeeper added that he was trying to imitate legendary Dutch forward Johann Cruyff with a turn in the box and added that he does not wish to keep fans on the edge of their seats like that.

“I tried the good old Cruyff [turn] and it didn’t work,” added the Everton shotstopper.

“I had that mentality to never say die, might have given a little nudge, but if you look back I get an elbow right in my dish as well but I got a good clearance off.

“Some will say I’ve gotten away with one but it’s part of the game. I think I’ve got people on the edge of their seats, and I don’t wish to do that, but it’s a decision I’ve made and the main thing is that it didn’t go into the back of the net.”