England’s penalty shootout hero Curtis Anderson revealed victory was the only thing on his mind as they knocked Japan out of the U17 World Cup.
The Young Lions had been held to a 0-0 draw over 90 minutes of their first knock-out game of the competition, meaning the tie had to be settled from the spot.
And the Manchester City keeper relished the situation as he saved Hinata Kida’s penalty before stepping up himself to give England the crucial advantage and head on to a 5-4 win.
There was an audible gasp among the 53,000 crowd in Kolkata when Anderson confidently placed the ball on the spot to score, but Anderson says that he was always on the list of takers.
“That was always planned, for me to take one,” he revealed.
“Personally, I always practise penalties in training and I always fancy it in a shootout, so I was more than happy to go up for it.
“I was in a zone myself so I didn’t really notice the crowd and the lights, I just pick a side of the goal and go that way and fortunately I managed to save one.”
