Ousmane Dembele showed his nerves of steel as he took his Euro 2024 quarter-final penalty with his weaker foot.
But it turns out this isn’t the first time the France star has pulled this off, and an unearthed interview reveals there is actually a method behind the madness.
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Dembele fired home with his weaker foot in Friday’s shootoutCredit: Getty
Dembele came on as a substitute for Didier Deschamps’ side against Portugal, replacing Antoine Griezmann in the 67th minute.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward put in a much-improved performance from the rest of his showings so far in Germany and his spot-kick summed up his impact against Cristiano Ronaldo and co.
With the game finishing 0-0 after extra time, Dembele stepped up to take the first penalty of the evening, sending Diogo Costa – who had been Portugal’s hero in the shootout against Slovenia – the wrong way and sticking the ball in the bottom right-hand corner.
Using his ‘weaker’ right foot for spot-kicks is something the 2018 World Cup winner has done throughout his career.
When asked during his time with Rennes what his stronger foot was, Dembele said: “Yeah I’m more left-footed yeah.”
Then, when quizzed on why he takes penalties with his right foot, the Frenchman added: “Because I shoot better with my right foot.”
Following France’s win over Portugal on Friday night, Dembele revealed Deschamps had got his side practising penalties plenty of times as they prepared for the clash.
Les Bleus who had lost their last three shootouts, including against Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final.
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Costa was sent the wrong way for Dembele’s spot-kickCredit: Getty
Their practice paid off in the end, with Portugal’s Joao Felix hitting the post for his spot-kick to see France through to the semi-finals with a 5-3 win in the shootout.
“We had practised penalties and felt confident going into them,” Dembele said after the game. “The Qatar World Cup final loss helped us in that respect.
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“I think we all took the goalkeeper by surprise because we sent him the wrong way.”
France will now face Spain – who saw off Germany 2-1 in extra time on Friday – in the next round of the competition.
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