12 of the worst: What became of England's penalty villains

Will they bounce back? Here's a trip down memory lane and a look at the fortunes of all 12 of England's penalty villains.

Stuart Pearce

Stuart Pearce had his penalty saved at Italia '90 against Germany, but will feel like he finally exercised the ghost six years later when he scored one at Euro '96 against Spain. It was an emotional moment and the outpouring of emotion on his face was one of the tournament's most memorable images. Sadly days later England were again eliminated on penalties by the Germans, but Pearce did his bit by scoring again. Nowadays he can be seen coaching England's under-21s, will take charge of the Great Britain Olympic team, and was even made interim England manager when Capello resigned. 

Chris Waddle

Chris Waddle's penalty against Germany will go down as one of the worst of all time. He blazed it high and wide, and to this day the ball is still believed to be in the air. Then a Marseille player, he returned to England with Sheffield Wednesday before spells with six separate clubs ranging from Falkirk to Sunderland. Now he is heard commentating on BBC radio and on ESPN, and his Italia 90 experience appears to have haunted him so badly he can't even say the word, pronouncing 'pelanty' instead. 

Gareth Southgate

Poor Gareth Southgate, he went from an up and coming defender to an English scapegoat after missing the crucial penalty at Euro '96. He had the misfortune of appearing alongside Waddle and Pearce in a terrible pizza advert, and is remembered England-wise for being played out of position against the Germans in the final game at Wembley in centre-midfield by Kevin Keegan. England lost and Keegan ended up resigning. After being sacked as Middlesborough manager, Southgate has taken up a position involved with grass roots development with the FA. 

Paul Ince

At France '98 Paul Ince stepped up like a man destined to miss. Then a Liverpool player, a year later his career, previously with Manchester United and Inter Milan began to go downhill. He retired from international after Euro 2000 after England lost every game. He was sold to Middlesborough before spells with Wolves, Swindon and latterly Macclesfield where he took his first job in management. After a bright start in management his star has faded, his last spell an unsuccessful run with Notts County. 

David Batty

David Batty was Ince's fellow villain against Argentina, missing the decisive penalty. He was sold by Newcastle that summer to Leeds, where he re-energised his career, helping them to Champions League football. From an England point of view it didn't go so well. He featured in the Euro 2000 qualifiers, but after being sent off against Poland in 1999 he was never picked for his country again. He retired in 2004 and apart from charity events has little involvement with football nowadays. 

David Beckham

Beckham was a double villain at Euro 2004, missing two crucial penalties. The first was against France in the group stages with England at 1-0 up. The side capitulated late on and had they won their route may not have taken in Portugal in the quarter finals. He took England's first in the shootout, kicking it over the bar, and blamed the penalty spot. He made up for it at World Cup 2006 when he scored a winning penalty in a 1-0 win over Argentina, and is now in semi-retirement with LA Galaxy in the MLS.

Darius Vassell

Darius Vassell had his crucial sudden death penalty saved at Euro 2004 by Portugal's Ricardo, who added salt to the wound by going and scoring the winner past Paul Robinson himself. Vassell was on the pitch after England's great hope Wayne Rooney had gone down injured early on in the match. Aston Villa sold him a year later to Manchester City, before he left to play in Turkey for a season. Sven Goran Erikssen signed him back to Leicester City, where he has scored a paltry six goals in two seasons.

Steven Gerrard

Nobody would have expected Gerrard to miss in 2006, but he did, and it set the tone for another dismal England shootout. He scored one crucially a year earlier to help Liverpool win the Champions League, and a month earlier in the 2006 FA Cup Final. He sort of made up for his miss by scoring his penalty this year against Italy, but it didn't stop England losing. He was England's best player at the tournament and will hope to continue as captain heading forward.

Frank Lampard

For Frank Lampard, 2006 was where it started to go wrong from an England point of view. Before then he had won fans' player of the year votes, but the tournament in Germany was a real personal disaster for him, having more shots than any other player without scoring. That even included a crucial missed penalty. Now a Champions League winner, at club level he can't be argued with, but for England fans rarely appreciate the qualities he brings to the side.

Jamie Carragher

Carragher's substitution was a disaster against Portugal. Brought on purely to take a penalty, he missed it. Of course he originally scored it, but was made to re-take it by the referee for taking it before the whistle had blown. Typically he missed his second effort. He went onto retire from international football, before making himself available for the 2010 World Cup, and then retiring again. His only tournament involvement at Euro 2012 was as a pundit.

Ashley Young

Did anybody see Young's miss coming? Aston Villa fans would have done. The last one Ashley Young took was for Villa in March last year against Bolton when his effort was saved and his side went onto lose the game. Manchester United fans will hope he can bounce back from the inevitable boo-boys next season in the same way Beckham did after his World Cup red card in 1998.

Ashley Cole

Sadly for Ashley Cole his luck had to run out sooner rather than later. He had scored for Chelsea in the Champions League finals in 2008 and 2012, as well as for England at Euro 2004, and it was inevitable he would miss one sooner or later. He has been one of the best left-backs around over the last 10 years, and having won it all, Chelsea fans will hope this miss does not affect him. For a man used to coping with criticism, we suspect he'll get by just fine.

Which penalty miss sticks in your mind the most?

image: © NathanF