England made it through the penalty shootout and are in the semi-finals! I knew Jordan would always get at least one kick, praises goalkeeper Harry Kane

On Saturday, England took on Switzerland in the semi-finals. Just like in the semi-final against Slovakia, England were trailing but managed to finish the match in a penalty shootout. The Netherlands, who defeated the Turks 2-1, will now face them.

For a long time, the match lacked any chances. Both teams were playing around the defensive block, but never got a shot off. The first real chance came in the 75th minute with a goal by Breel Embolo with the tip of his foot. Dan Ndoye scored an assist after a cross.

But England’s response was not long in coming. In the 80th minute, Bukayo Saka received the ball in front of the whitewash, took a shot and it went in. His attempt at the far post still bounced off the bar and into the net. The goalkeeper Sommer had no chance and the English again closed the gap with a few minutes to go.

There was no more goals for the crowd and it went into extra time. There were more chances. The biggest one was Shaqiri’s corner, which he twisted perfectly so that the shot ended up on the crossbar of Pickford’s goal. He fumbled the ball as he tried to head it into the net and even praised Shaqiri for his effort immediately afterwards.

The penalty shootout was decided by the first series

But no goal was scored in extra time and it went to penalties. The very first Swiss penalty was missed by Akanji, whose poorly sent shot was cleared by the goalkeeper. He was helped by the bottle pull that Pickford is famous for. It said exactly what it did, to jump to the left on Akanji’s shot.

“We know he’s reliable. I knew we had the perfect shooter and I knew Jordan would always catch at least one kick,’‘ captain Harry Kane said.

England converted all their penalties, broke the jinx in the penalty shootout and could rejoice in progressing to the semi-finals. Despite this, Gareth Southgate’s team are being criticised for their performance.

“We are growing match by match. Tournaments are not just about great performances and beautiful play, but about other attributes that combine to make a good team,’‘ Southgate defended his team after the match.

“You give the players responsibility, so you can’t be angry with them. Especially players who have played a fantastic tournament like Manuel Akanji. What can you say to him? There’s not many words of consolation. It doesn’t matter. I thanked him for his performance and also for the way he led the team, the way he played. Really top performance. Of course, there’s a great emptiness and sadness. But everyone has to overcome that sadness on his own,” coach Murat Yakin defended the unlucky Akanji.

Sources: UEFA, Euro 2024