Bukayo Saka lays down gauntlet to England team-mates at Euro 2024: 'Two more games until we change our lives' | OneFootball

Saka netted England’s equaliser and then held his nerve to score in the penalty shootout

England hero Bukayo Saka says he always believed he would exorcise his personal demons from Euro 2020 by scoring in the penalty-shootout win over Switzerland and afterwards told his team-mates: "There's two more games until we change our lives."

Saka scored a brilliant equaliser and coolly dispatched his spot-kick, as England beat Switzerland 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Dusseldorf, to set up a semi-final against the Netherlands on Wednesday.

The Arsenal forward's last shootout for England ended in heartbreak when he missed the decisive spot-kick in their defeat to Italy in the final of Euro 2020.

"I believed in myself and when I saw the ball hit the net I was a very happy man.

"We know 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, we're going to enjoy tonight, watch the [Netherlands-Turkey] game to see who we're facing and be ready for that when it comes."

Bukayo Saka insisted his miss three years ago was not in his mind

REUTERS

Asked if his miss at Wembley three years ago had played on his mind on the long walk from the centre circle, Saka said: "Nah, I'm not getting to be focussing on the past.

"That's done. I can only focus on now and taking the penalty. Of course, I know there's a lot of nervous people watching, my family included in the crowd. But I kept my cool and I scored."

Jordan Pickford saved Switzerland's first penalty from Manuel Akanji after Cole Palmer had scored, and Jude Bellingham, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold also made no mistake from the spot.

"I believe we have some of the best takers in the Premier League and in the world," Saka said. "We talked about it before, if it did come to penalties we'd be pretty confident. We showed that today, scored five out of five and we're through to the next round."

Harry Kane's, England's record-scorer and regular-taker, was replaced by Toney in extra-time after a frustrating match, which he finished with just 26 touches.

"Each game is different," Saka said. "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 the Swiss team and in particular his former Arsenal team-mate Granit Xhaka, who won the double with Bayer Leverkusen this season but could not help his country into a first semi-final.

"Granit has had an incredible season, he's won enough trophies already," Saka said.

"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. Also the Swiss team, they gave us a good game, took us to penalties so all the best for them too."