Jadon Sancho has praised Bukayo Saka for his redemptive penalty for England at Euro 2024 that went some way to banishing the memories of their high-profile shootout misses at the previous tournament in 2021.
Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Saka missed or had their spot-kicks saved in the shootout won by Italy in the European Championship final at Wembley three years ago. They received vicious racist abuse on social media.
Saka was one of the five England players to score in the shootout win over Switzerland in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals on Saturday and Sancho sent a heartwarming message to his friend.
“I’m so proud of this guy!” Sancho wrote about Saka on his Instagram story. “You did it for me and Marcus brother!”
Sancho and Rashford, who play for Manchester United, were left out of England’s squad for Euro 2024. After the Switzerland game, Saka said: “You can fail once but you have a choice if you put yourself in that position or not again. I’m a guy who is going to put myself in that position. I believed in myself. And when I saw the ball hit the back of the net, I was a very happy man.”
The former England defender Rio Ferdinand tweeted on Sunday morning a picture of England’s successful penalty takers with the words: “Where are the racists now???? Probably still celebrating!!!!”
The spot-kicks were taken by Cole Palmer, who has St Kitts and Nevis heritage on his father’s side, Jude Bellingham, Saka, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Where are the racists now????
— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) July 7, 2024
Probably still celebrating!!!! 🏴 #EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/kC17HxIDLJ
Bellingham praised the impact of England’s assistant coach Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and the back-up goalkeepers in his assessment of the team’s perfect penalties. “I was really confident in my preparation, confident in the things I talked through with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink – he’s stepped up for us massively,” Bellingham told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Football Daily. “It’s the work that he does behind closed doors, with the lads being willing to take on that information, that put us in those situations in order to be able to win.
“So this is a massive team effort. Another thing is Dean Henderson, Aaron Ramsdale, Tom Heaton, who have been with us this camp, they’ve been huge in helping us practise the penalties. Again, they won’t get the credit they deserve but essentially, if they don’t put in the right effort, you don’t have the right practice to go out and execute.”
