Bukayo Saka was England’s hero against Switzerland in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals. The Arsenal winger scored the crucial equaliser to take the game to extra-time late in the second half, before netting a penalty in the shootout that sent the Three Lions through to the last four.
Saka would have been forgiven for feeling anxious in the moments leading up to his spotkick. In England’s last shootout, he saw his penalty saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma at Wembley and ended the match in tears as Italy won Euro 2020.
But things have changed three years on. Saka, a regular penalty taker for Arsenal, showed no sign of nerves as he stepped up against Switzerland.
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“In extra-time I had the feeling it was going to penalties, so I was ready in my mind,” he said on an episode of Lions’ Den. “I try to focus more on success than failure. If I think about missing it gets me down and worried and then I get tense, but I was pretty relaxed.
“I’ve taken many penalties this season and I’ve scored all of them. I was confident and I’ve been good in training recently as well. It was a nice feeling when it hit the back of the net.
“The penalty was a special moment for me but I feel like a lot of people worry more about me taking a penalty than I do myself. We all know what happened in the last penalty shootout, so we’re definitely relieved and excited to get to the next round.
“All game I was looking for that moment. A lot of the time it was two vs one and there wasn’t a lot of space, but Dec [Rice] gave me the ball and he took the guy away. I saw the space and knew what I wanted to do straight away. I hit it sweet and had a good feeling it was going in.”
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