Bukayo Saka exorcised his Euro 2020 demons as he scored a brilliant equaliser and a cool penalty to help England beat Switzerland 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw, setting up a semi-final against the Netherlands. The Arsenal forward, who missed the decisive spot-kick in the Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy, said he always believed he would step up again.
“It's something I embrace. You can fail once and you have a choice over whether you put yourself in that position again and I'm a guy who's going to put myself in that position,” said Saka, who was named man of the match. “I believed in myself and when I saw the ball hit the net I was a very happy man.”
After the match, Saka told his team-mates: “There's two more games until we change our lives and make some history that's never been made before. We're really focussed on that.” He added that he was not dwelling on the past, saying: “That's done. I can only focus on now and taking the penalty.”
Jordan Pickford saved Switzerland's first penalty from Manuel Akanji, while Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold all converted their spot-kicks. Saka praised England's penalty takers, saying: “I believe we have some of the best takers in the Premier League and in the world. We talked about it before, if it did come to penalties we'd be pretty confident.”
Harry Kane, England's record scorer, was substituted in extra time after a frustrating match with only 26 touches. Saka acknowledged the need for improvement, saying: “Each game is different. Of course we'd love Harry Kane to touch the ball a lot more but today we won, we're going to review it tomorrow and the day after and in the next game see how we can improve.”
Saka also paid tribute to former Arsenal team-mate Granit Xhaka, who helped Switzerland push England all the way. “Granit has had an incredible season, he's won enough trophies already. He's an amazing player and person. Even after they lost, the humility he showed to come and shake my hand. He's a top guy, I wish him all the best.”
