Dusseldorf, July 7 (IANS): England once again managed to dig deep and turned the game on it’s head in the final minutes as they came back from being 1-0 down to winning the game on penalty shootout.
The hero for the Three Lions was none other than Bukayo Saka who succeeded in redeeming himself in front of the English faithful having been the one who missed the ultimate penalty of the 2020 Euros final. Saka’s missed penalty saw Italy win the championship at Wembley which was followed by a lot of hate directed towards the then 19-year old winger.
However, Saka scored a beautiful equaliser from outside the box which curled into the bottom left corner of the goal in the 80th minute of the game and later went on to comfortably bury his penalty during the shootouts.
"Last time we took a penalty shootout at the Euros we know what happened. I believed. I felt like we dominated the whole game and the chance would come and I took it - I am proud of myself for that. I have faith in God. To come back from something like that is really difficult, today I took the chance," said Saka to reporters in the post-game conference.
Saka's redemption has charged England into the semi-finals of the Euros, the third time England has reached the final four of a major tournament under Gareth Southgate’s tenure, where they will be facing a tough challenge against Netherlands.
"We have total trust in him (Saka) . His all-round performance was phenomenal for the team. To show the fortitude to convert the penalty as he did, I love them all but I had to give him an extra big hug. I know myself these experience shape you. He has come back stronger, still resilient and loved. Tonight his tournament ignited a little bit," added Southgate.
England fans will be dreaming of finally ending the drought with the country not having won a single European Championship in their history and their last win in a major tournament being the 1966 World Cup.
"I think it shows how much we want to win this tournament. Hopefully, next game we can win in 90-minutes but if this is what it takes – we will do anything!" added Saka.