England v Italy Euro quarter final updates: Joe Hart up to take penalty

With all eyes on Sunday’s potentially electrifying encounter between England and Italy in the quarter final of Euro 2012, boss Roy Hodgson will take note of the enthusiasm showed by goalie Joe Hart, who said he can be one of the five penalty-takers should the match go past extra time.

Sounding pretty confident about his team’s chances of finishing the match in normal time, Hart said if it goes into a tie-breaker, he would be more than happy to take a spot-kick. Notably, big names in the England squad have a notorious track record when it comes to converting penalties into goals.

Both Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney squandered their chances to score from the penalty spot in the past, and there are not too many people Hodgson can put his trust on to take accurate spot kicks.

City goalkeeper divulged that with the rest of the England team, he has had extensive practice sessions perfecting penalty kicks. He enjoys taking penalties and likes to hone his shooting skills at every given opportunity, the 25-year-old goalie asserted.

Hart will step into the pitch at Kyiv on Sunday with proper homework about how the Italian players take penalty kicks. Watching video footage of Cesare Prandelli’s men taking penalties will be a part of his pre-match preparations, the goalie said.

When asked about how difficult it might be to negotiate fellow City striker Mario Balotelli, Hart generously admitted that Balotelli will pose a threat to reckon with but England would like to focus solely on their own game.

Related:
Euro 2012: England scrape through to quarter-finals, confront Azzurri next
Euro 2012: England scrape through to quarter-finals, confront Azzurri next
Euro 2012: Ukraine to block England, says Blokhin

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