German Euro 2016 penalty king Hector had 'heart in mouth'

Bordeaux (AFP) – Jonas Hector, who scored the decisive spot-kick as Germany beat Italy 6-5 in a penalty shootout to reach the Euro 2016 semi-finals on Saturday, admitted his nerves had been jangling.

“I knew I had to take one at some point and I had my heart in my mouth,” Hector said.

“It’s hard to put it into words, but I am overjoyed that it went in. There weren’t many people left.”

The 26-year-old Cologne defender slotted the ball low past the diving Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon with Germany’s ninth penalty to settle a marathon shootout after the match had ended 1-1 at the end of extra-time.

“We’re happy to have gone a round further, it was really stressful and of course luck played its part,” Hector said.