After leading England to a matchup with Holland in the Euro 2024 semi-final, BUKAYO SAKA couldn’t stop grinning.

With just 25 minutes remaining in Dusseldorf, Breel Embolo gave Switzerland the lead, making it appear as though the Three Lions would be eliminated from the competition.

Saka grinned the entire post-game interview.

He ranked England’s victory against the Swiss as one of his greatest moments in a Three Lions shirt

Saka’s wonder strike from the edge of the area drew England level

He then tucked his penalty brilliantly into the right hand corner

Bukayo Saka buried his Euro 2020 final demons to bag one of the penalties, after scoring the equaliser in normal time

Posing for a picture with his Vivo Player of the Match trophy, Bukayo Saka

But less than five minutes later, Saka rose to the occasion and became the brave hero of England.

With a wonderful curling shot from the edge of the box, the Arsenal player cut inside from his new position at right wing-back to tie the score.

Before the game, predictably, veered towards penalties, both teams had opportunities to win it in extra time.

And with England leading 2-1 in penalty kicks following Jordan Pickford’s stop of Manuel Akanji, Saka stepped up with the opportunity to give England the upper hand.

Saka, 22, calmly fired past Yann Sommer to erase the memories of his devastating mistake in the team’s final Euro 2020 defeat to Italy.

All five of England’s takers converted to make it a perfect set of pens, with England winning 5-3 – only their fourth-ever shootout win.

Asked about exorcising his demons, Saka admitted: “It’s something I embrace. It was special, very special, how we fought back. The last time we went to penalties we all know what happened.

“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.

“To come back from something like that was really difficult but I used it to make me stronger.

“We know there are two more games until we can change our lives and make some history that’s never been made before. We’re really focused on that.

“Hopefully in the next game we can win in 90 minutes. But if this is what it takes we will do anything.”

Prince William congratulating Bukayo Saka after England’s EURO quarterfinal victory.

England boss Gareth Southgate – who was seen giving Saka a massive hug amid the celebrations – couldn’t have been more proud of his starlet.

Southgate said: “Bukayo was so brave. He is one of our best so we were never in any doubt that he was going to take one.

“We all know what he went through so to deliver the way he did… I gave him a massive cuddle on the pitch. He’s a special boy, he’s a dream to work with.

“It takes courage but we had belief in him. We had belief in him previously. He’s now got a lot more experience of those pressure moments. His all-round performance was exceptional.”

“So yeah, I’m proud of myself as well for that.”

After seeing Saka beam his way through a post-match interview on the BBC, host Gary Lineker was full of praise for the “wonderful” England star.

He said: “What a wonderful young man. He is so likeable and so brilliant.”

While Beeb pundit Rio Ferdinand added: “Everything about him just comes off as so positive. You can’t help but love him not only for his football but his personality and his character.

“I’d go as far to sаy that he’s England’s most important player because he’s so different to everybody else. He’s the one that will run at people and beаt them one on one and go in behind.

“Even today, he played a wing back position today but he is a winger. He’s such a talented player.”