England coach Gareth Southgate was upset with substitute Jordan Henderson after he defied team instructions and took a penalty and missed it in Sunday's 1-0 friendly win over Romania in the last test before the Euro 2020 soccer championship.
Henderson returned to the England squad after injuring his thigh in February, and came on as a substitute after the break.
But he prevented fellow striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin from taking the penalty he had obtained and would have taken it.
The Liverpool captain took the penalty kick and Florin Neta, the Romanian goalkeeper, saved it in the 78th minute, after Marcus Rashford scored 10 minutes before England's only goal with another kick and then left the field.
Jordan Henderson has his penalty saved 🧤 pic.twitter.com/xgFvlHd3k1
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) June 6, 2021
Speaking to ITV, Southgate said: "We had Marcus Rashford taking the penalties and then James Ward-Prowse but they were off the field. We were waiting for Calvert-Lewin to take the penalties and I was expecting Henderson to take them."
"I was feeling confident but the save was great," Henderson told the BBC. "It wasn't a good penalty but I'm not too upset. It was great to crown my comeback with a goal."
đź—Ł "He said he'd not scored for England yet, so he wanted the penalty. Maybe if I want to go to the next level I've got to be more ruthless there."
Dominic Calvert-Lewin reveals why Jordan Henderson took the penalty duties off him against Romania pic.twitter.com/5qVIqVznWe
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) June 7, 2021
In turn, Lewin revealed a conversation he had with Henderson, as the latter told him, "I haven't scored in the England shirt yet," which is why he asked for the kick.
England will start their European Championship campaign against Croatia at Wembley next Sunday, then face Scotland on the 18th of this month, and conclude the first round with the Czech Republic 4 days later.