Netherlands Handed Semi-Final Advantage As England Taunted Over Bellingham

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Bukayo Saka and Harry Kane helped England overcome Switzerland in the Euro 2024 quarter-final (Image: Getty)

England face the Netherlands in the Euro 2024 semi-finals next week having banished their penalty demons against Switzerland. Bukayo Saka, who missed in the Euro 2020 shootout, was one of the five Three Lions players to score clinically from the spot.

It was not the perfect performance against the Swiss and England once again relied on individual quality to bail them out. Saka’s excellent strike after cutting inside from the right was one of few highlights in the 1-1 draw in normal time.

England will not care how they win, especially if they go on to lift the men’s European Championship for the first time. The Dutch were also underwhelming in their 2-1 win over Turkey last night.

Keep up to date with today’s Euro 2024 news in our LIVE blog, below…

1 hour ago18: 13 Fraser Watson

England inspired by ‘buddy’ systemEngland appeared to use a ‘buddy’ system during the penalty shootout against Switzerland.

Before spot-kicks, Gareth Southgate was in discussions with Declan Rice, Luke Shaw, Kyle Walker and John Stones.Each then appeared to offer support to one of the takers.

Geir Jordet, author of the book Pressure: Lessons From The Psychology Of The Penalty Shootout, has commented: “They’ve invented a way to approach this individual event as a collective, team event.

“They have a structure for preventing the players from going at this alone. A support structure takes down the pressure just a little bit.”

England players celebrate their shootout win. (Image: Getty)

3 hours ago17: 00 Fraser Watson

BBC reveal England figuresThe BBC have confirmed England’s Euro 2024 quarter-final victory against Switzerland on Saturday was watched by a peak audience of 16.8 million people.

But that fell short of the highest peak audience during England’s Euro 2024 campaign so far. That was 18.4 million for their extra-time victory against Slovakia in the last-16, a game shown on ITV.

4 hours ago15: 41 Fraser Watson

Media savage over England displayDe Telegraaf’s Marcel van der Kraan has savaged England’s players after their win over Switzerland.

“For 75 minutes, England v Switzerland looked more like a William Shakespeare tragedy than a tough battle for a place in the European Championship semi-finals,” he wrote. “The English, with their abundance of talent and quality, did not provide any entertainment.”

Spain’s Marca newspaper added: “Jude Bellingham is exhausted and if the helmsman does not pull the cart, the cart will not go forward.

“Jude had his first significant action in the 31st minute, when he forced (Fabian) Schar to receive a yellow card. Before and after that, he did little, like the rest of his team.”

5 hours ago15: 00 Sam Smith

Netherlands given England advantage in Euro 2024 semi-finalNetherlands fans will take Dortmund’s famed ‘Yellow Wall’ next week.

The steep-sloped section of the Westfalenstadion is infamous for its ability to maintain an atmosphere.

Dutch fans have been allocated the stand for the Euro 2024 semi-final against England.

6 hours ago13: 57 Sam Smith

Gareth Southgate shuts down journalist’s question at Euro 2024Gareth Southgate shut down a German journalist after leading his side into the Euro 2024 semi-finals on Saturday night.

The Three Lions were then accused by the reporter of being given “easy runs” at major tournaments.

They claimed that England even came up against a “poor” Germany team which they beat 2-0 in Euro 2020.

Southgate responded to that point by saying: Yeah, but I am saying they had about eight Champions League winners in that squad.”

When the journalist continued to list nations beaten by England at tournaments, Southgate added: “Look, the teams we’ve played are because we won our group.

“If you go back through history, England had different routes to the final because we didn’t win our group. I understand of course, you’d rather not have to jump the Grand National to win the tournament.

“Most teams, when you have back-to-back games – two, three, four games against big nations – the margins are so fine and then those games end up quite even. You win one, you lose one – so it’s very tough to go through those processes.

“I’m not really sure what to say, it’s the madness of this job – but it’s been an enjoyable night and I will try to keep it that way.”

7 hours ago12: 39 Sam Smith

Bukayo Saka reflects on England heroicsBukayo Saka exorcised his penalty demons against Switzerland.

Having missed a crucial spot-kick in the Euro 2020 final against Italy three years ago, the Arsenal winger coolly converted this time around, helping England into the Euro 2024 semi-final.

Saka felt little pressure stepping up despite his previous penalty woes.

“I think for me it’s something I embrace,” the 22-year-old said afterwards.

“You can fail once but you have a choice whether you put yourself in that position again or not. I’m a guy who is going to put myself in that position. I believed in myself.

“When I saw the ball hit the net, I was a very happy man. I’m not going to be focusing on the past. That’s done. I can only focus on now and taking a penalty.

“Of course I know there’s a lot of nervous people watching, my family included and in the crowd. But I kept my cool and I scored.”

Bukayo Saka has reflected on his England penalty heroics (Image: Getty)

8 hours ago11: 52 Sam Smith

Harry Kane injury updateHarry Kane insists he is ‘fine’ despite appearing hurt after clattering into the dugout during England’s win over Switzerland.

The captain was involved in an awkward incident in which he was nudged off the pitch and collided into Gareth Southgate before tripping over a stack of containers.

Kane says he is okay after being replaced by Ivan Toney.

He said: “I’m fine, I’m fine. I had a bit of cramp there. The boss made a quick decision with Ivan being a proven penalty-taker.”

9 hours ago11: 00 Sam Smith

Switzerland star shares classy England responseSwitzerland defender Manuel Akanji shared that England stars who he had never even played with came to console him over his missed penalty.

The Man City star had a crucial spot-kick saved by Jordan Pickford.

England scored all five penalties to go through to the Euro 2024 semi-final.

“Even players I’ve never played with came to speak to me afterwards,” Akanji said. “I tried to say something back but the mood wasn’t the right one.

“I wish them good luck for the tournament and I hope my Manchester City team-mates stay healthy. That’s the most important thing, and we’ll see how far they go.”

9 hours ago10: 12 Sam Smith

Gareth Southgate angered by England team leaksGareth Southgate is angry that England’s team selections have been leaked several days before matches.

It was widely reported in the media that Southgate was set to switch to a 3-4-2-1 formation ahead of the Euro 2024 quarter-final against Switzerland.

“We do a lot of things. As I said, we’ve won three out of four and a lot of our processes have been shared,” Southgate said after England advanced to the semi-final.

“Our tactical plan for the game was also shared three days before.

“We live in an amazing world where it’s so difficult for us because any element of surprise you might have with the opponent is gone three days before. It’s quite incredible really.”

Gareth Southgate has grown frustrated over England team leaks (Image: Getty)

10 hours ago09: 15 Sam Smith

Euro 2024 semi-final ties confirmedThe Netherlands’ come-from-behind victory over Turkey on Saturday has confirmed the semi-final ties.

England will play the Dutch next Wednesday in Dortmund, with both sides bidding to play either Spain or France in the final.

Spain overcame Germany to meet France, who knocked out Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal.

The semi-final ties are as follows:

Tuesday, July 9:

Spain vs France – 8pm, Munich

Wednesday, July 10:

Netherlands vs England – 8pm, Dortmund

11 hours ago08: 53 Sam Smith

England star ‘didn’t want to take’ Euro 2024 penaltyTrent Alexander-Arnold has inadvertently revealed that an unnamed England star did not want to take a penalty against Switzerland.

The Three Lions player scored the winning spot-kick in the 5-3 shootout victory.

However, in footage captured after the game, Alexander-Arnold seemed to reveal to his close friends and family that one player wanted to dodge stepping up during the tense shooutout.

“He didn’t want to take one,” the 25-year-old is heard saying.

It is unclear which player he is talking about.

Alexander-Arnold scored after Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Ivan Toney and Bukayo Saka all converted from the spot.