Jadon Sancho praised Bukayo Saka for exorcising the demons of their Euro 2020 penalty shootout defeat with Saturday’s victory over Switzerland.
When Bukayo Saka prepared to take England’s third penalty of Saturday’s quarter-final penalty shootout against Switzerland, it was the first time he’d stepped up to the spot for his country since 2021.
In the meantime, Saka had taken 14 penalties for Arsenal, scoring 13 of them. But his last penalty for England remained the saved effort that confirmed Italy as Euro 2020 champions.
Thankfully, Saka was able to use the experience he’d gained with Arsenal to make sure he put his effort away this time around, sending England to another Euros semi-final.
Watching on was Manchester United’s Jadon Sancho, one of the other two England players who missed a penalty in the Euro 2020 shootout, the other being Marcus Rashford.
After the game, Sancho shared a message with Saka, writing on Instagram: “I’m so proud of this guy! You did it for me and Marcus brother!”
Saka responded to the post to say simply “my boys” along with a heart emoji, and he spoke about his decision to take another penalty for England after the game.
“You can fail once, but you have a choice whether you put yourself in that position or not again,” Saka said.
“I’m a guy who is going to put myself in that position and yeah I believed in myself. When I saw the ball hit the net, I was a very happy man.”
Saka also scored an excellent goal during the game, and he won the Player of the Match award for his quarter-final performance. He’ll now hope to replicate that display as England take on the Netherlands in the semis.
