Jadon Sancho praised Bukayo Saka for his penalty kick redemption at the European Championship, which helped erase the memory of their missed penalties in the previous tournament in 2021.
In the 2021 Euro final shootout against Italy, Saka, along with Marcus Rashford and Sancho, missed their penalties, leading to racist abuse on social media directed at the Black players.
Saka scored in the penalty shootout against Switzerland in the Euro 2024 quarterfinals on Saturday, and Sancho shared a supportive message for his friend on Instagram.
“I’m incredibly proud of this guy!” Sancho wrote. “You did it for me and Marcus, brother!”
Sancho and Rashford, teammates at Manchester United, were not included in England’s squad for Euro 2024.
Reflecting on his penalty success, Saka commented that he embraces taking penalties and used the past challenges to strengthen himself.
“You can face failure once, but it’s your choice whether to put yourself in that situation again,” Saka said. “I’m someone who will step up. I believed in myself, and when I saw the ball hit the back of the net, I was overjoyed.”
