England manager Gareth Southgate to ‘pull rank’ following Jordan Henderson’s penalty miss

The England manager said he will step in if the scenario were to unfold again during the Euros

Jamie Braidwood
Sunday 06 June 2021 14:30 EDT
Comments
Jordan Henderson takes the ball from Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Jordan Henderson takes the ball from Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Gareth Southgate has said he will talk to Jordan Henderson over his decision to “pull rank” and take England’s second penalty in the 1-0 win over Romania on Sunday.

With England’s designated takers Marcus Rashford - who scored his second-half penalty to earn England their win - and James Ward-Prowse substituted, Henderson seemed to take the ball from Dominic Calvert-Lewin after the Everton striker was fouled in the box.

Henderson, who was making his first appearance since February after a long injury absence, saw his kick saved by goalkeeper Florin Nita, and Southgate confirmed afterwards that the Liverpool captain had incorrectly intervened

“I was expecting Dominic to take it and when Hendo walked over I thought he was making sure that happened, so I will have to check what happened,” Southgate told ITV.

“We will pull rank next time,” he added.

On England’s performance, the manager said his side “improved” as the game progressed and was pleased with the display one week before their opening fixture against Croatia on 13 June.

“We had chances to make it more comfortable but so did they, the first half we did not work hard enough without the ball, we were too stretched and did not press well.

“After half-time, I thought we improved and it was helpful we went to 4-3-3 later and I have to say it was a good exercise, players needed the minutes and learned a lot from the game. Good to win.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in