Gareth Southgate reveals how he got over Euro 96 penalty miss

Gareth Southgate has revealed a conversation with England teammate Stuart Pearce was “invaluable” in helping him deal with his Euro 96 penalty miss.

Southgate, now the England manager, has spoken about how he felt responsible for ending the feelgood factor sweeping the nation as hopes grew that the Three Lions would secure a first major title in 30 years.

And he says talking about the miss with Pearce, who endured his own shoot-out agony at the 1990 World Cup, helped him immensely.

“I remember going back to the hotel and sitting having dinner with Stuart Pearce, who’d lived through what I was going to live through,” Southgate said.

“He was able to immediately give me some information about what the next few months might look like and the things I might experience. Looking back that was invaluable really.”

The England boss was speaking about his experiences with the Duke of Cambridge as part of the Heads Up campaign’s #SoundofSupport series.

The campaign, led by the Duke, seeks to encourage football fans, men in particular, to feel confident and comfortable in reaching out for support on mental health issues should they need it.

Southgate admitted the penalty miss in the semi-final against Germany was…