Tribal Football

EURO 2024 Talking Points: Saka banishes demons from Wembley, Dutch delight in Berlin

Josh Donaldson
Cody Gakpo
Cody GakpoAction Plus
Another riveting day of action has come to an end in Germany at EURO 2024 and we are down to just four teams. From Saturday's two quarter-finals, we bring you the biggest talking points from Dusseldorf and Berlin

Saka exocises demons from EURO 2020

It's been three years since Bukayo Saka missed a vital penalty in the final against Italy, which was part of the reason England could not lift the trophy.

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Afterwards, he received vile racist abuse following that game - something that would have taken time to get over for anyone.

But, on Saturday, Saka showed why he is the man for the big moment once again. He was the player of the match in England's penalty shootout win against Switzerland, scoring the equaliser with a rifling effort from the edge of the box.

Bukayo Saka's vital goal against Switzerland
Bukayo Saka's vital goal against SwitzerlandAFP, Opta by StatsPerform

He then stepped up, once more, to take a spot-kick. He missed in 2021, today, he made no mistake, slotting it home and the smile afterwards was something to light a fire in any England heart.

They were flawless in the shootout, scoring all five, and despite another performance that saw them splutter past their opposition, this moment showed a team with nerves of steel and a mentality that could still see them go all the way.

Harry Kane's verdict after the game
Harry Kane's verdict after the gameFlashscore

Dutch show fighting spirit against Turkey

It looked another tournament of 'what might have been' for the Netherlands as they went into half-time 1-0 down to Turkey, thanks to a Samet Akaydin header.

But, Ronald Koeman rolled the dice and bought on Wout Weghorst at the break, which had the desired effect. The striker stretched the play, gave them outlet and provided more problems for the Turkish defence.

For their equaliser, he kept the defence occupied, allowing Stefan de Vrij to rise highest unmarked.

Wout Weghorst made contributions at both ends for the Dutch
Wout Weghorst made contributions at both ends for the DutchAFP, Opta by StatsPerform

For their winner, he provided indirect problems once again, which saw a mixture of Cody Gakpo and Turkey's Mert Muldur to poke home.

Turkey deployed a direct approach throughout the game, that caused a lot of problems to the Netherlands and it took a couple of last-ditch blocks to seal the win.

Whether they will go with a similar gameplan as they did in the second half against England remains to be seen, but for now, they will be proud of their resilience to see them into the semis.