U21 Euros semi-finals LIVE: England vs Netherlands

England ready for penalties if needed England v Netherlands (17:00 BST)

Nick Mashiter

BBC Sport football news reporter in Bratislava

Under-21 boss Lee Carsley believes England have lost the fear factor in penalty shoot-outs.

The defending champions face the Netherlands in Wednesday's Euro 2025 semi-final in Bratislava after Saturday's 3-1 win over Spain.

It is a repeat of the 2007 semi-final when the Young Lions lost a dramatic penalty shootout to the hosts 13-12.

Under former boss Gareth Southgate, the senior squad won their first penalty shootout for 22 years when they beat Colombia at the 2018 World Cup and also beat Switzerland in a shootout at Euro 2024.

That success came from planning and practice and Carsley believes it has helped his men going into the tournament in Slovakia.

"It's definitely something Gareth really pushed which filtered down the pathway, which is so important," he said.

"The amount of resource that would have been thrown at the senior team to be the best at penalty shootouts and have that awareness of how important they are has definitely trickled down and we've got the benefit of that.

"We speak a lot about a routine, almost like a golf swing where you would address the ball and take your time, think about your shot, the breathing.

"I've taken penalties for a club - it's fine - but taking a penalty in a penalty shootout is a totally different mentality because of the walk [from the halfway line]. You have that much time to think about what you're going to do, if you change your mind and making sure that you're clear and focused."

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