Jordan Henderson was harshly criticised following his England penalty miss in the build-up to last summer’s Euros.
The Sunderland-born midfielder also faced penalty despair as he missed in England’s shoot-out against Columbia during the World Cup in 2018.
Speaking with BT Sport and The Athletic, the Liverpool skipper was reunited with his Under 10s coach, Shaun Turnbull, as the pair reminisced about Jordan’s childhood and yet more penalty misfortune.
Discussing what type of player Liverpool’s No.14 was as a child, his former manager said: “To be honest, if I’d have told him to go in goal he probably would have and he would play anywhere.
“One Saturday morning, all the lads turned up and the game got called off and he was devastated. Most of the lads wouldn’t have been but he was absolutely devastated.”
In both international games where he missed penalties, his side went on to win.
This is the opposite of his Liverpool record as he managed to score from the spot in 2015 against Arsenal, however, he was on the wrong side of a 4-1 scoreline that day.
He then went on to discuss an early penalty mishap: “We were in a semi-final … and it went to a penalty shootout and he [Henderson] said, ‘I’ll take a penalty’.
“He stepped up and missed and got really upset to his Dad. We still went on to win the final!”
To which the England vice-captain responded: “I’ll leave penalties to someone else, especially as it’s going back a long time now! Maybe that’s not my thing and I’ll leave it to other people!”
Despite being mocked, Henderson was full of praise for his old mentor: “People like Shaun have helped me massively over my career, from a very early age and I wouldn’t be where I am without him.”
Thankfully, with Mo Salah and James Milner, there won’t be too many more opportunities for Hendo to take penalties for the Reds.
Our skipper more than makes up for it though with his faultless performances on and off the pitch.
You can watch the full video via BT Sport below: