Baskets, bullseyes and board games: Ivan Toney's 'no-look' penalty technique has no limits

England's Ivan Toney scoring a penalty and playing Connect Four Credit: PA

Scoring a basket, a bullseye and winning at Connect Four all while not looking - is there no end to England penalty scorer Ivan Toney's skills?

The Brentford player stunned fans when he coolly scored his penalty without looking at the ball in Saturday's quarter-final against Switzerland.

Toney, who went viral after his distinctive 'no-look' penalty style helped the team through to the Euros semi-finals, said he would not change his approach if he had to take another penalty.

A new video interview posted on X comically begins with a montage of activities showing Toney playing Connect Four, darts and reading a book while looking instead at the camera.

"I always look at the keeper, no matter who it is," he said about his style.

"I always wait to see if he makes the first move and if he doesn't make the first move then I pick a corner to put it in."

"I have always done this. I feel like it has been working for me and hopefully, it can continue," he added.

Memes and reaction videos comparing Toney to people glaring into a camera while avoiding obvious objects in front of them surfaced across social media.

In one video, a man looking at the camera behind him with a straight face while going down a rollercoaster was captioned: "Ivan Toney when he is taking a penalty and sees the keeper"

"That's got to be the best one," Toney reacted, in a video interview released after the game on England's official social media video series, The Diary Room.

At the end of the interview, Toney also spoke about 'The Bowler Boys', referring to England stars Joe Gomez, Declan Rice and Ezri Konsa, who lift weights at the gym together after training.

England beat Switzerland in a tense penalty shootout on Saturday to reach the Euro 2024 semi-finals.

Bukayo Saka cancelled out Breel Embolo’s opener to take the quarter-final to extra-time and onto penalties after it ended 1-1.

England are scheduled to play the Netherlands in Wednesday's semi-final in Germany.

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