Euro 2012: Roy Hodgson prepares England for shoot-out survival

Roy Hodgson is acting the ghostbuster, fighting spectres that have long haunted England. Having -banished one banshee by surviving a goal-line controversy against Ukraine, Hodgson now faces up to another of England's demons with the chilling prospect of penalties against Italy in Sunday's quarter-final in Kiev. It's knockout time. It could be shoot-out time.

This is a perilous path that so many of Hodgson's predecessors have travelled before, losing their footing and tumbling out of tournaments. Bobby Robson, Glenn Hoddle and Sven-Goran Eriksson have all suffered such fates. Terry Venables negotiated one but perished four days later.

Hodgson understands the national phobia of being placed on the spot. "It's because we've lost important matches on penalties so it's going to be that way,'' he shrugged yesterday. "When you are working with the England national team, the past is always going to weigh heavily. Everything we do today is compared with something that happened in the past."

Those are the rules of engagement for those tasked with tackling the years of hurt, with taking the team a stage further than managed by such patriots as Robson at Italia 90 and Venables at Euro 96.

"Unfortunately we have lost two very, very important semi-finals on penalties,'' Hodgson said, "so I presume that's going to be there during all my time as national coach. Probably when a national coach comes 20 years hence he will be asked the same question as well.'' Not necessarily. Not if the English patient can be cured of its affliction to that little white spot. Individually, in club colours, members of Hodgson's squad have stepped up to the challenge from 12 yards. Wayne Rooney in Moscow 2008. Ashley Cole in Munich 2012 as well as for England in Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup.

Others have found the mark on Under-21s duty. Ashley Young and James Milner scored two each in that epic 13-12 defeat by Holland in 2007.

Two years later, Milner missed in the semi-final shoot-out win over Sweden in Gothenburg, but Theo Walcott and Joe Hart scored. Their coach, Stuart Pearce, who knew the pain of missing from Italia 90 and the joy of scoring at Euro 96, had drilled them every day.

Hoddle famously, arguably -infamously, resisted the chance to practise penalties regularly as he claimed it was impossible to replicate the nerve-shredding walk from the halfway line. What happened next?

England lost to Argentina at France 98. Eriksson controversially turned down the FA-organised chance to stage a shoot-out at the end of their pre-World Cup 2006 friendly with Jamaica at Old Trafford. What happened next? England left Germany prematurely because of a failure from the spot.

Sunday's game might not descend into such a denouement but history indicates Hodgson must help St George slay the dead-ball dragon. Fear of penalties fills the air at the FA. When Brian Barwick, the FA's chief executive, left the building in 2008 he made a speech to staff and board members during which he reflected on his singular habit of chewing on biros, occasionally ruining shirts. "It always ends messily with pens with England,'' one guest reflected.

So to learn that England have been rehearsing their 12-yard techniques was encouraging. "We have used the time after training sessions to -regularly practise,'' Hodgson said. "We'll obviously take it even more seriously now. But you can practise penalty shoot-outs until the cows come home. It's really your composure, confidence, ability to block -everything out and forget the -occasion that means you score or you don't score.

"Sometimes we've seen the best players miss and the best players you think are not penalty-takers are the ones that smash them in."

The role of dishonour containing the names of those who have missed in major shoot-outs include such luminaries as Diego Maradona, -Socrates, Zico, Michel Platini and Roberto Baggio.

The penalty-taking record of -Steven Gerrard, England's captain, was so abysmal at one point in his Liverpool career that he considered never -taking another. He missed four of his first nine for Liverpool, but has converted 22 of his past 25. He also erred in the 2006 World Cup.

John Terry, who converted in -Portugal 2004, missed in the shoot-out against Rooney's United in 2008 but he is expected to take one here.

"John will step up to the plate," a friend of Terry's said. "He has confidence in his own ability, although there will almost certainly be others who have taken penalties regularly like Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck and Ashley Young. But he will take one if needed."

Depending on line-up and substitutions, England would look for a shoot-out front five of Gerrard, Rooney, Cole, Terry and the confident Hart. Next up would be Scott Parker, Milner, Welbeck (if picked ahead of Andy Carroll) and Young. Managers must adapt to changing situations. The booked Paul Gascoigne was not in the best state to take a penalty at Italia 90, so Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle were brought in ahead of him. Both missed.

Six years on, Gascoigne did convert against Spain, while Pearce showed his character with that emotional -finish. Four days later, Gareth Southgate volunteered and promptly missed England's sixth. Hodgson must also ensure the order is as right as the state of mind. Why on earth did Paul Ince go second at France 98? Why was Jamie Carragher fourth and not Cole in 2006? The best should start. Crank up the stress levels on the opposition.

Hodgson knows how pressure can mount. "I've done it with Italians as well, so I'm quite good at it,'' smiled the former Inter Milan coach, who beat Sturm Graz on penalties but lost to Jens Lehmann's Schalke in the 1997 Uefa Cup final.

Lehmann did his homework. Hart will be well prepared by England's goalkeeping coach, Dave Watson, being shown clips of how the Italians take them. Preparation is key. Otherwise the ghosts will continue to stalk England.