Gareth Southgate reveals England already practising PENALTIES and vows to ‘bring fans real happiness’ at World Cup 2022

ENGLAND boss Gareth Southgate has confirmed his squad are already practising penalties ahead of the World Cup.

The Three Lions begin their Qatar journey against Iran on Monday afternoon.

PASouthgate is already preparing his side for the possibility of penalties[/caption]

Eric Dier’s penalty handed England their first World Cup shoot-out victory in 2018Getty Images – Getty

And after that they still have two more group games with USA and Wales before there is any chance of a match going to spot kicks.

But Southgate has now revealed his staff are making penalties a routine part of training before every game.

He said: “We are in a good physical rhythm. We are practising penalties.

“Harry would practice them before every game. It is part of what we do before tournaments anyway.

“We have taken our supporters on a fantastic journey over the last few years.

“Our country is going through a difficult time as we speak, obviously not like a couple of other countries are going through.

“Life has been difficult for our people, we are going through an economic recession and we want to bring a journey that brings them real happiness.”

England won a World Cup penalty shoot-out for the very first time in 2018 when they beat Colombia in the last 16 – following three previous spot kick defeats.

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But they then faced more heartbreak last year when Italy beat them on penalties in the final of the Euros.

However, Southgate is not yet even discussing the possibility of England reaching the knockout stages as he remains focused on beating Iran.

Speaking about the Three Lions’ opposition on Monday, he said: “We are very respectful of our opponents tomorrow [Monday].

“We know the quality of their players and we know under Carlos [Queiroz] in the last World Cup [that] they’re very well organised.

“We are ready for the game, ready for a strong challenge and we have to be the best version of ourselves.”