IVAN TONEY showed Gareth Southgate what he has in his locker by scoring a rocket volley in training.
The striker has been used from the bench in England’s last two games and teed up Harry Kane to score the winner against Slovakia in the Round of 16.
Toney also slotted home an ice cool penalty in the shoot-out against Switzerland and is likely to play a role against the Netherlands in the semis.
He did his chances of playing the world of good after impressing in training with an eye-catching goal.
Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford showed he is as handy with his feet as his hands in the build-up as he side-stepped Joe Gomez before chipping the ball over the top of the defence.
His inch-perfect pass found Toney who volleyed in spectacularly from a tight angle.
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The Brentford star said of his goal: “I don’t know why everyone’s celebrating that’s kind of normal for me now. Nah just playing.
“I had a few people say to me “time, take it down” – they didn’t believe in me that I had that. Just swazz it into the top left, and that’s what I done.”
England fans also loved another video Toney featured in where he is seen playing games and reading a book without looking – mimicking his penalty technique.
The striker was filmed playing Connect Four, darts, basketball and reading a book without looking.
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Gareth Southgate should do the unthinkable and drop Harry Kane
SunSport’s Dave Kidd explains why England captain should not start Netherlands clash.
Gareth Southgate built this era of consistent English success on ruthlessness.
Now can the England manager make the boldest selection call of all by benching his captain and all-time record goalscorer Harry Kane for Wednesday’s Euros semi-final against Holland?
Because Kane needs a rest and England need a different option at centre-forward.
Southgate started his reign by thinking the unthinkable and binning off his captain and all-time leading scorer Wayne Rooney.
Could he now do the same, temporarily, with Kane?
Southgate may be loyal to a fault but even he admitted his skipper was not “flowing” after Saturday’s shootout triumph over Switzerland.
The Three Lions chief replaced a struggling Kane with Ivan Toney in extra-time.
Few of Europe’s leading stars are peaking here and many are running on fumes. Yet even in this environment, Kane sticks out as being absolutely cream-crackered.
During Saturday’s game, England needed an outlet as the Swiss pinned them back before Breel Embolo’s opener but Kane didn’t have the legs to provide it.
He is not winning enough aerial duels, has been way off target with a couple of headed chances and against Switzerland his touch count was again worryingly low, just 26.
Ideally, Kane would be honest enough to admit he is struggling.
Yet all great goalscorers need egos — a selfish streak is part of the job spec.
And for a player who has, infamously, never won a trophy to offer himself up for a rest at the semi-final stage is almost unthinkable.
But England needn’t rely on Kane to such an extent that they have to play him when half-fit.
Southgate knows his history and made a point of telling his squad about 1966 and how England’s goalscoring talisman, Jimmy Greaves, was injured in the final group match and replaced by Geoff Hurst.
Fifty-eight years later, another legendary Tottenham goalscorer is struggling for fitness. Could Toney, or even Ollie Watkins, become the Hurst of 2024?
Read Dave Kidd’s full column here
Fans and team-mates are in awe of Toney’s technique, with Bukayo Saka saying: “It’s crazy. We’re all just in awe, I don’t know how you cannot look at the ball.
“When we see him practising in training, he does the same thing.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
