England reached the semi-finals of Euro 2024 on Saturday after beating Switzerland 5-3 on penalties after the match finished 1-1 after extra-time.
Trent Alexander-Arnold scored the decisive spot-kick to send England into a last-four clash with the Netherlands Dortmund on Wednesday.
Bukayo Saka's stunning equaliser with 10 minutes remaining, which the Arsenal forward lashed in off the inside of the post, took the match to extra time.
England had looked to be heading out of the tournament five minutes before when Breel Embolo forced in Switzerland's opener.
Neither team scored in the following 30 minutes, and after Jordan Pickford saved Manuel Akanji's opening spot-kick for the Swiss, England confidently scored all of theirs to secure passage to the semis. Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Saka, Ivan Toney and Alexander-Arnold all converted and they will now face Turkey or the Netherlands in Dortmund on Wednesday.
“I am going to put it up there, special,” Saka said when asked where the match ranked in his career highlights. “How we fought back and to go to penalties. Last time we took at penalty shoot-out 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.”
It was a redemption moment for Saka missed a penalty in the Euro 202 final defeat. “I have faith in God,” he added. “To comeback from something like that is really difficult, today I took the chance.
“You fail once but I'm the sort of guy who wants to put myself in the position again. I know there's a lot of nervous people watching, like my family, but I kept my cool and scored my penalty.
So England march on despite another in a string of underwhelming performances from Gareth Southgate's men. In his 100th match in charge of his country, Southgate again resisted calls for mass changes in personnel but did alter his system.
Ezri Konsa made his first ever competitive international start in place of the suspended Marc Guehi as England switched to a back three.
However, contrary to expectation, Saka remained on the right in what proved to be an inspired decision by Southgate. The Arsenal winger was by far the biggest threat of a first half in which neither side managed a shot on target.
Saka was skipping beyond Michel Aebischer at will and created the best chance of the first period when Kobbie Mainoo saw an effort deflected behind just before the half-time whistle.
The game continued at the same laboured pace from both sides into the second half. Embolo finally managed the first shot on goal when his weak effort was easily handled by Jordan Pickford.
Southgate has been repeatedly criticised for being too slow to influence games with his substitutions. Despite having one of the most richly-talented squads at the tournament, it took until they fell behind for Southgate to shake things up.
England looked headed for a meek exit when Embolo pounced at the far post to turn in Dan Ndoye's deflected cross at the back post.
Southgate reacted immediately with Palmer, Eberechi Eze and Luke Shaw, making his first appearance since February, sent on. Within five minutes England were level as Saka cut inside and fired low and hard in off the far post.
Switzerland were indebted to a brilliant save from Yann Sommer to deny Declan Rice a second for England early in extra time.
It was Switzerland who came closest in the second half of extra time as Xherdan Shaqiri's corner came back off the woodwork before Pickford parried Zeki Amdouni's powerful strike from distance.
England won only one of five previous penalty shoot-outs at the Euros, including defeat by Italy in the final three years ago. But they were perfect from the spot as Saka erased some of the pain from his decisive miss in the Euro 2020 final.
“Incredible, these are the goals that we set for ourselves,” said Alexander-Arnold. “Difficult opponent going behind and the team showed a lot of character, belief, heart and spirit out there.
“We knew it was going to be tight. Whatever it takes and no matter what we win – that is all that matters to us.”
As for the shoot-out, the Liverpool wideman added: “It is what we have practised. When the gaffer said I was taking one, I enjoy it and I practice it – I knew I had to just execute it. All five penalties from us were great.”
Manager Southgate felt it was his team's best performance of the tournament. “I thought the players were brilliant,” he said. “We caused them a lot of problems with the ball. They're a really good side, they're hard to press, they're hard to defend against, their movement's good.
“To come from behind again, and show the character and resilience we did; winning tournaments isn't just about playing well, you've got to show all of those other attributes.”
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- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
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July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
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November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
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December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
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It’ll be summer in the city as car show tries to move with the times
If 2008 was the year that rocked Detroit, 2019 will be when Motor City gives its annual car extravaganza a revamp that aims to move with the times.
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