Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has now compared Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka to one Chelsea icon.
Arsenal star Bukayo Saka lit up Euro 2024 yesterday with his sensational strike for England against Switzerland.
With the Three Lions desperate for a goal in the 80th minute, Declan Rice played the ball out wide to his Arsenal teammate Saka on the right wing. The 22-year-old then cut back inside onto his preferred left foot and arrowed a perfectly-placed strike into the bottom corner from range.
This equaliser took the match to extra time, and a penalty shootout was ultimately needed to decide this quarter-final tie. Saka made no mistake from the spot, as the Three Lions succeeded in booking a semi-final clash with the Netherlands.
Arsenal fans were thrilled by Saka’s performance in Germany. However, Gary Neville has even claimed that Saka has ascended to a level beyond club allegiances, and is in fact now simply loved by all England supporters. Certainly, England legend David Beckham has expressed his admiration for the Arsenal man.
Plenty of pundits waxed lyrical about the Hale End academy graduate after his display against Switzerland, including 81-cap former England international Rio Ferdinand.
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Rio Ferdinand leads pundit praise of Arsenal ace Bukayo Saka
Three former England stars, Ferdinand, Gary Lineker, and Frank Lampard all shared their thoughts on Saka’s strike on the BBC’s coverage of the match (06/07/2024, 19:55).
Ferdinand said of the goal: “A bit like Robben, isn’t it? You know he is going to come inside, but you can’t stop him because he is so sharp and he is so decisive in that moment.”
Arjen Robben spent three seasons on the books with Chelsea, between 2004 and 2007, winning two Premier League titles and an FA Cup, amongst other honours, before moving on to enjoy silverware-laden spells with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Over the course of this long career, the Dutchman had a trademark move that saw him cut inside from the right and unleash a left-footed shot from range. Saka’s goal against Switzerland would have looked similar to many Robben strikes. Saka has also often produced similar whilst playing for Arsenal under Mikel Arteta.
Lineker then noted: “But he could go both ways as well which makes him even trickier.”
Before Lampard added: “And he mixed it up really well today. He took him down the line quite a few times but he came inside for the goal.”
Former England striker Stan Collymore felt that Saka should have gone down the outside more often, but Gareth Southgate will be glad that the winger ignored that advice in the process of scoring the goal that saved his side’s Euro 2024 campaign.
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