Eagle-eyed viewers spot Jordan Pickford’s penalty cheat sheet on water bottle

England won their match against Switzerland in a penalty shootout to secure their semi-final spot at the Euros.

The score was 1-1 after playing 90 minutes plus extra time so when it all came down to penalties England's Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold each confidently scored.

While goalkeeper Jordan Pickford dived the right way for two out of four penalties and managed to save Manuel Akanji's strike to keep the Three Lions tournament hopes alive - and also appeared to study ahead of the penalties, as viewers noticed a cheat sheet on his water bottle.

If you look closely you can see the sheet has instructions on what side to dive for every Switzerland player.

Akanji's name is clear to see with the note "dive left" which is exactly what Pickford did, saving the first penalty which ultimately helped England win the game.

A detailed view of the water bottle of Jordan Pickford of England, which features details of the Switzerland penalty kick takers and the direction they go during the UEFA EURO 2024 quarter-final match between England and Switzerland at Düsseldorf Arena on July 06, 2024 in Dusseldorf, Germany Carl Recine/Getty Images

While for Switzerland's Fabian Schar, the bottle read: “Fake right, dive left,” however Pickford didn't stick to this, and instead faked left and dived to his right as Schar scored to his left.

For Xherdan Shaqiri, Pickford followed the sheet to "dive left" but couldn't stop Shaqiri from scoring, and the note for Zeki Amdouni was to "hold- dive left – go! (low)," and Pickford held before diving to the left, though Amdouni went down the middle to find the back of the net.

People on social media has shared their thoughts on Pickford's water bottle cheat sheet.

One person said: "The homework was not in vain," while another added: "The bottle performed better than most of the players in this match."

When asked about his water bottle in a post-match interview, Pickford said with a laugh: "'I thought I hid my water bottle well but obviously not!"

"I do my process and the referee stopped me doing what I normally like to do but I still managed to save one and give the lads the opportunity and I believe in my mentality that I am going to save at least one penalty in the shootout."

It's not the first time people have noticed Pickford's water bottle penalty cheat sheet as viewers similarly spotted this on the Everton goalkeeper's bottle last year during a Premier League match against Leicester.

England will now face The Netherlands in the semi-final on Wednesday (July 10).

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