Bukayo Saka exorcised England’s Euro 2020 demons with a brilliant penalty shootout on a remarkable night in Dusseldorf and immediately insisted he was aiming to win Euro 2024 Cup and create history for the country.
Saka had already delivered a man-of-the-match performance, scoring a stunning goal in the 80th minute to save England and send the quarter-finals into overtime, before his penalty saved England team, helping England advance to Wednesday night’s Euro 2024 semi-finals against the Netherlands in Borussia Dortmund.
When he stepped up as third taker in the penalty shootout and saw Cole Palmer and Jude Bellingham coolly finishing, there was something terrifying about the English section of the Dusseldorf Arena. The silence recalls the moment in 2021 when, as a 19-year-old player, he missed a crucial late penalty in the Euro 2020 penalty shootout and was subjected to horrific racial abuse after the game discriminate
This time, Saka, one of the most popular players on the team, confidently flicked his shot to the right of Swiss goalkeeper Jan Sommer before flashing his familiar celebratory smile.
“You might fail once, but you can choose whether to put yourself in that position again, and I’m a guy who’s going to put myself in that position,” Sacca said. “That’s something I embrace. I believe in myself and I’m very happy when I see the ball hit the net.
“I’m not focusing on the past – things are in the past. I can only focus on the present. Of course, I know there are a lot of nervous people watching and my family is in the crowd, but I stay calm and score. We have some world The best penalty taker on the team, we’ve talked about it and if we do go into penalties we’ll be confident and I’m delighted we showed that today and got five out of five.
“Look, we know we have two games left until we can change our lives and make some history. We’re going to enjoy tonight, but we’re really focused on this.
Jordan Pickford saved Manuel Akanji’s penalty and Ivan Toney scored England’s fourth despite Switzerland taking three in succession. Trent Alexander-Arnold only played the final eight minutes as England reached the semi-finals for the third time in four tournaments.
Southgate, who missed a penalty in the Euro 96 semi-finals, celebrated with his players and admitted the moment was particularly sweet given the personal criticism he had suffered.
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“This job requires a bit of fun every now and then, and if you can’t enjoy that moment then the whole thing is a waste of time,” Southgate said. “I can’t deny that when [the criticism] Personally, it’s difficult, but we’re fighting, and we’re not going to stop fighting.
He insists the penalty-kick procedures adopted by the team since he took over, including consulting professors at the London School of Economics, played a role in ending England’s penalty curse. Under Southgate, England have won three penalties on penalties, defeating Colombia in 2018 and Switzerland again in the Nations League in 2019, having previously won in 1990, 1996, 2004, Lost in high-profile penalty shootouts in 2006 and 2012.
“We are crucified for the people we lose – that will always be the case because it is results-based,” Southgate said. “We made some improvements to the process after that but the players had to show composure. There are many stories: Cole taking the No. 1 at his age; Bukayo; we almost fired Jude because we now expect it “Ivan, knowing that’s what we brought him here for, Trent stayed the course. It would have been easy for him to think his game was over, but I kept talking to him and said he was going to have his moment.”
