England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford reveals Italian referee Daniele Orsato stopped his penalty shootout ‘process’ against Switzerland: ‘But it didn’t affect me.’
Orsato was the referee in charge of England-Switzerland in the EURO 2024 quarter-finals last week and stopped Pickford’s ‘process’ during the penalty shootout, which, as explained by the Daily Mail, includes giving the ball to the players before they show up from the spot.
“I asked him [Orsato] before the penalties started, I said ‘I’ve got a process’,” Pickford told the BBC.
“Maybe he didn’t understand my Mackem accent! But then stopped me after I saved the first one. He must have realised, ‘Oh, I’m not letting him do it anymore’.
How Italian referee Orsato stopped Pickford’s penalty shootout ‘process’
“But it didn’t affect me, I just had to do as much as I could. I didn’t want to get booked or anything, I didn’t want to create dramas.”
Pickford said the same thing after the match this past Saturday.
“Firstly, the referee didn’t let me do my usual process, so I’ve got to adapt… because I like to give the lads the ball. I could only do it for the first time and luckily, I saved it.”
Orsato will retire after the Euros, but the latest reports in Italy claim the Italian referee won’t be selected for the Final as Szymon Marciniak appears to be the favourite.
England will meet the Netherlands in the Euro semifinals on Wednesday evening, and the winner will face Spain in the Final on Sunday.