Saka believes England have nothing to fear as they face France for a place in the semi-finals.
Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka is taking the penalty spot for England again as he said his hot streak at the World Cup has “lifted” him following his Euro 2020 heartbreak.
The Gunners forward missed the decisive penalty as England lost the final to Italy in a shoot-out last summer and went on to suffer horrific online racist abuse in the aftermath.
Saka has been crowned Arsenal’s player of the season, and England’s player of the year and ended the last season as Arsenal’s top goalscorer.
The 21-year-old has also played a key role in taking Mikel Arteta’s side to the top of the Premier League. He has scored three goals to help England through to a quarter-final clash with France.
The 21-year-old scored twice in the opening 6-2 win against Iran and then scored his third in a comfortable 3-0 victory against Senegal in the last 16 on Sunday night.
“I have matured and progressed a lot as a player and as a person since that moment,” he said of his miss against Italy.
“I would not have stepped up the times I have stepped up for Arsenal to take a penalty if I wasn’t confident, so if the moment comes and I am selected to take a penalty, I am more than happy to.
“To be honest, I feel like personally I’ve tried to move on from that moment. Obviously I know I can never really forget about it, it is going to be in history.
“But at the same time, coming out here and scoring those three goals, of course lifted me a lot. Like I keep saying, the love from the fans that I keep receiving lifts me a lot as well.
“It gives me a lot of confidence and I love to see that from the fans.”
Saka believes England have nothing to fear as they prepare to take on holders France for a place in the semi-finals.
He said: “I feel we have just got to prepare the best game plan and go there with confidence. We are playing really good right now.
“There is no doubt about the quality we have in our team. We are blessed with an amazing front line. There is so much quality attacking players.
“When you are selected, it shows how much confidence the boss has in you so that gives you that extra confidence to go out and shine. Last night we were able to do that.”
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