England beat Switzerland on penalties on Saturday to keep their dream of winning Euro 2024 alive, qualifying for a semi-final against the Netherlands, who came from behind to beat Turkey in the day's other match.
In Düsseldorf, England again hit back late on, their quarter-final against Switzerland ending 1-1 after 90 minutes and into extra time, before Gareth Southgate's side won 5-3 on penalties.
England converted all their penalties, with Switzerland's Manuel Akanji the only player to miss his team's first spot-kick, but his effort was saved by Jordan Pickford.
A dreary encounter for the first 75 minutes burst into life after Breel Embolo gave Switzerland the lead, sliding in at the far post to convert Dan Ndoye's deflected cross.
England, who came back from the dead after beating Slovakia in the last round, needed just five minutes to equalise thanks to a superb goal from Bukayo Saka, the Arsenal forward's low strike from the right wing finding the far corner of the net.
There were no further goals, although substitute Xherdan Shaqiri came close to winning the game late in extra time for Switzerland when he hit the woodwork straight from a corner.
Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Saka, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold converted their penalties to send England through as they attempted to exorcise the ghost of their penalty shootout defeat to Italy in the Euro 2020 final.
“We're not going to stop fighting, we're in another semi-final and we'll see where we can go,” said Southgate, who celebrated victory in his 100th game in charge with a dance in front of the England fans.
“Every now and then you think, 'You have to enjoy this job. If I can't enjoy that moment, it's all a waste of time,'” he added.
Switzerland have now reached five World Cup or Euro quarter-finals, and lost them all – they also lost on penalties to Spain in the Euro 2020 quarter-finals.
“Of course it hurts a lot after making such an effort and having the chances we had. I am very sad for the guys and for the nation that after such a performance we had to leave the tournament,” said their coach Murat Yakin.
– Dutch response sinks Turkey –
While the Swiss return home, England remain in Germany for a semi-final in Dortmund on Wednesday against the Netherlands, who came from a goal down to beat Turkey 2-1 in Berlin in Saturday's other quarter-final.
Samet Akaydin gave Turkey the lead in the first half, heading in a cross from Arda Guler in the 35th minute.
Akaydin replaced Merih Demiral, Turkey's two-goal hero in the round of 16 win over Austria, who was suspended for that match for making a controversial salute.
The build-up to the match at Berlin's Olympiastadion has been overshadowed by a diplomatic row between Turkey and Germany following Demiral's ban.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the match, accompanied by tens of thousands of fans who greeted each period of prolonged possession with a barrage of whistles.
But the Netherlands kept their cool in a hostile atmosphere and equalised with 20 minutes left when Stefan de Vrij latched onto Memphis Depay's cross to score with a powerful header.
The Dutch then won six minutes later when Mert Muldur headed a low cross from Denzel Dumfries into his own net under pressure from Cody Gakpo.
That was enough for the Netherlands, who won the Euro in West Germany in 1988, to qualify for their first semi-final at the tournament since 2004.
“Tonight we had to dig very deep and I'm proud of these guys,” captain Virgil van Dijk told NOS television.
“We want to make our dream come true and we are one step closer.”
Spain and France meet in Munich on Tuesday for the first semi-final, with the winners of the last two matches advancing to the final in Berlin next Sunday.
as-kca-rbs/nf
