Leeds United: Agbonlahor shares what he saw Dan James do moments before Wales penalty miss
Leeds United ace Dan James was always going to miss his penalty for Wales against Poland due to his body shape.
That is according to Gabby Agbonlahor, with the miss reminding the pundit of Gareth Southgate’s missed spot-kick for England against Germany at Euro 1996.
The Elland Road attacker was the only player to fail to score as Wales lost to Poland on penalties in their Euro 2024 play-off final on Tuesday (26 March).
“When I saw that Dan James was one of the players going to take a penalty, I knew he was going to miss,” Agbonlahor said on talkSPORT. “Because if you watch James as a player, he’s got very good attributes, but technically, he’s not great.
“You look at all the other penalties, they were confident, smashing them in. You just knew he was going to do the side foot. Even his body shape, he was stood too straight on. It was just obvious when you’re that straight on, you’re going to go to your left, keeper’s right.
“None of the other penalties were like that. It was the Gareth Southgate sort of penalty from ‘96, side foot, nervous, he’s not great technically. I just knew he was going to miss, and I think he knew in his mind, he could tell. Some players just don’t want to take penalties, and I think he was one of them.”
Does Leeds United ace Dan James need time to recover from Wales heartache?
Nobody likes to lose on penalties, but unfortunately that was the reality for Wales as they were narrowly edged out by Poland in Cardiff.
Rob Page’s side certainly gave it a good go, and undoubtedly had the better chances to make it to Euro 2024.
But James and his teammates couldn’t get the job done in normal time or indeed extra time, with the visitors going on to win the penalty shootout lottery.
Devastatingly for James, the Whites man was the only player to miss, with the winger now perhaps needing some time to get over the heartbreak.
Conversely, however, getting back on the pitch as soon as possible may be the best thing for the attacker.
That is a decision that Daniel Farke will need to make sooner rather than later, with Leeds already returning to action on Friday (29 March) when they travel to Watford in a Championship clash.
In other Leeds United news, a Whites offer for Matt O’Riley is on the cards as a Celtic transfer stance emerges.
For more Leeds news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.