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4 months ago
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Gary Lineker has admitted that watching both Bukayo Saka and Trent Alexander-Arnold score in the penalty shootout against Switzerland, made him shed a tear – or two.
Saka, who also scored England's 80th-minute equaliser against the Swiss earlier in the game, stepped up to cooly dispatch a spot kick in the subsequent penalty shootout.
The 22-year-old winger has been credited for his bravery, after missing the decisive penalty in the Euro 2020 final against Italy, which effectively lost England the tournament.
Lineker says watching Saka's penalty spirited him back to Euro '96, as it conjured the same emotions he felt watching Stuart Pearce scored in the penalty shootout in England's quarter-final victory over Spain.
Speaking to Alan Shearer and Micah Richards on the Rest is Football podcast, Lineker said: 'It reminded me so much of the Stuart Pearce moment. Pearce missed in 1990 when I played.
Bukayo Saka scored an 80th-minute equaliser against the Swiss and subsequent penalty
Gary Lineker said watching Saka score his penalty made him 'cry tears of joy'
Lineker said he felt a similar emotion watching Stuart Pearce score a spot-kick at Euro '96
'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 Euro '96. And he stepped forward again. I was in the crowd thinking please, please score, don't miss.
'Everyone in the crowd was thinking the same thing, the silence was palpable. When he knocked that in, I cried. I sat there crying in the crowd, tears of joy.
'But to come back, a young lad having also scored to drag us level, then do that… he's amazing!'
Lineker also had similar praise for Alexander-Arnold, saying he 'felt he had been hung out to dry a little bit.
'The other time I welled up a bit was seeing Trent [Alexander-Arnold] come on,' he continued.
Saka's penalty completes a redemption arc, after missing a penalty in the final of Euro 2020
Trent Alexander-Arnold stepped-up to dispatch a penalty after enduring a torrid Euros to date
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'He's been put in that central midfield position when the team was a little bit disjointed, it wasn't cohesive. They were all over the place, and he was taken off and got the blame for it.
'I was so pleased to see him come on and score the winning penalty.'
England will be hoping they can repeat the heroics of Euro 2020, when they went all the way to the finals, by beating the Netherlands in the semi-final on Wednesday.
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