- author, Emma Smith
- role, BBC Sports Reporter
Bukayo Saka is the Stuart Pearce of the TikTok generation.
Younger fans watching England reach the European Championship semi-finals with a perfect penalty shootout may not know who Pearce is, but there were many scenes in Dusseldorf on Saturday night that were reminiscent of Euro 96.
England have only succeeded in every penalty shootout at a major tournament twice – against Spain at Wembley in 1996 and against Switzerland in 2024.
Against Spain, Pearce scored his third penalty and, with his neck muscles strained to the max, celebrated with his trademark fist pump and roar.
Against Switzerland, Saka scored his third penalty and celebrated with his trademark beaming smile, in keeping with the image of the star boy beloved by England’s new generation of supporters.
For both players, the shootout victory was redemption.
Pearce’s penalty came six years after his missed one in the 1990 World Cup semi-final defeat to West Germany, while Saka’s came three years after his miss in the European Championship final defeat to Italy.
When Trent Alexander-Arnold scored the winning goal, Saka didn’t rush to celebrate with most of his teammates, but instead dropped to his knees with his arms held high in gratitude.
This was Saka style atonement, and it was done with class, plenty of skill and irresistible likability.
“For me, I think it’s something you have to accept,” Saka said of exorcising the demons of Euro 2020. “You can fail once, but you can choose whether to put yourself in that position again and I’m a man who is willing to put myself in that position.”
“I believed in myself and was really happy when the ball hit the net.”
“Bukayo’s courage was truly incredible.”
The devil at Euro 2020 was racist, nasty and vile. Saka, along with Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, received the most horrific abuse after their missed penalty shootout against Italy.
Saka, then 19, took England’s fifth kick but it was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma and he was left in tears on the pitch.
Three years later, the situation could not be more different.
Saka, no longer a teenage international but key to England’s hopes, pulled his team back into the match with a brilliant shot from 18 yards just five minutes after Breel Embolo had put Switzerland ahead.
And finally, in the jubilant scenes after the penalty shootout, he was on the pitch celebrating with his teammates, smiling.
“Saka’s smile in that penalty shootout was incredible,” former England defender Izzy Christiansen told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“you, [Euro] It was amazing to see him win the 2020 Finals.”
Southgate, who held a sobbing Saka tightly at a flooded Wembley Stadium in 2021, suffered the ordeal of a penalty shootout as a player, his shot being the only one saved as Germany beat England in the Euro 1996 semi-final.
“It was a really brave move from Bukayo, he’s one of our best players and there was no doubt he would score,” Southgate said, “but we all knew how it felt for him.”
“I love all of them, but I especially wanted to give him a hug. I know experiences shape you, and he came back stronger, more tenacious and loved. Tonight’s tournament lit a little fire in his heart.”
Of course, it wasn’t just his composure in the shootout: Saka was England’s liveliest attacking force throughout the match, the highlight of which was a magnificent goal he scored just when it looked like England were going to lose.
Switzerland defender Michel Aebischel probably never wants to face Saka again: the England winger successfully dribbled past him four times in the first half, the first time that one player had ever beaten another in any Euro 2024 match to that point.
“Big players perform well in big moments.”
Image source, Getty Images
“He’s absolutely the most important player in England. He does things differently. He beats everyone else,” former England defender Rio Ferdinand told BBC One.
“He’s like Arjen Robben. You can see him coming inside but you can’t stop him because he’s so sharp. He’s one of the best wingers in the world.”
“Saka has saved England again,” added former England captain Alan Shearer. “The big players step up when it matters.”
Saka’s superb performance is all the more impressive when you consider where he played, with Southgate changing the formation to a 3-4-2-1 and redeploying the Arsenal winger into a highly unfamiliar role at right-back.
Saka, unhappy at being deployed as an emergency left-back in the last-16 win over Slovakia, was happy to take on the role and he gave England a sense of menace and sparkle on the wing, evading marking inside and outside – a quality England have lacked throughout their sometimes subdued Euros campaign.
“It’s incredible to see him playing in a new position compared to what he’s used to,” England captain Harry Kane told BBC One when asked about Saka.
“He was keen to help the team and played like that for 120 minutes but was exhausted at the end.”
A tired but upbeat Saka said it was one of the best experiences of his England career.
“We know what happened at the last Euros when we went to penalties,” the manager told BBC One.
“I believed. I felt like I was in control the whole game and I felt like my opportunity was going to come and I took it and I’m proud of that.”
Like Pearce, Saka redeemed England in the penalty shootout at the Euros, but for fans young and old who idolise him and know the ordeal he went through three years ago, there is something special about this remarkable young man’s story.