Former England striker Gary Lineker admitted Bukayo Saka's penalty against Switzerland transported him back to a teary moment watching Stuart Pearce enjoy a similar moment of redemption.
Lineker and Pearce were team-mates at the 1990 World Cup, when the left-back saw a spot-kick saved in a semi-final defeat against West Germany. Pearce stepped up again at Euro 96, though, putting away his penalty in a quarter-final shoot-out victory over Spain.
It was a similar story for Saka, who put his Euro 2020 pain behind him on Saturday. The Arsenal star saw the final penalty saved by Italy's Gianluigi Donnarumma in the final last time out, but beat Switzerland keeper Yann Sommer from 12 yards as England progressed to the final four this time around.
"I did actually, watching it, get a little bit emotional," Lineker said on The Rest is Football podcast. "It reminded me so much of the Stuart Pearce moment. Pearce missed in 1990 when I played. I know Stuart, you know Stuart. He's such a diamond of a bloke and a wonderful football player.
"Then we played against Spain, penalty shootout, in 96 in the Euros. And he stepped forward again. I was in the crowd thinking please, please score, don't miss, and everyone in the crowd was thinking the same thing, there was a silence that was palpable.
"When he knocked that in, I cried. I was sitting there in the crowd, crying tears of joy. I don't cry when I'm sad, I cry when I'm happy, and it [Saka's penalty] reminded me of that. He took the penalty that basically lost us the Euros, and then to come back, a young lad having scored a brilliant goal to drag us level almost immediately… he's amazing!"
England manager Gareth Southgate singled Saka out for praise after England progressed. The 22-year-old had also scored the Three Lions' equaliser 10 minutes from time to force extra-time and then penalties after Breel Embolo put Switzerland on the verye of victory.
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“I thought the players were brilliant, it is the best we have played," Southgate said. "To come from behind and shown character and resilience we did... it isn't just about playing well.
“It was so brave from Bukayo, he is one of our best and we were never in question he would take one. But we all knew what he went through.
“Huge performance, huge result and we are still in it. We had to be tactically spot on. We are in a third semi-final and it says a lot about the whole group. I thought we had good control.”
England will now play The Netherlands in the semi-finals on Wednesday, with the winner taking on either Spain or France in the final. Ronald Koeman's Oranje came from behind to beat Turkey in their quarter-final, with a Mert Muldur own goal proving decisive.
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