RaySport’s Star of the Day: Saka Shines to Prove His Worth, Uruguay’s Goalkeeper Roche Saves Penalty to Send Brazil Home

On July 7th, the last two spots in the semi-finals of both the Euros and Copa America were confirmed. In the Euro quarter-finals, England advanced thanks to Saka’s equalizer in regular time, with Netherlands’ Akanji missing a penalty in the shootout, resulting in a 6-4 aggregate victory for England; their opponents will be the “Oranje” Netherlands, who beat Turkey 2-1 with a Gakpo-assisted own goal, returning to a major tournament semi-final after a decade. Earlier today in the Copa America, Rodriguez set up three goals as Colombia thrashed Panama 5-0.

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Saka (England)

Saka had an outstanding performance, scoring an equalizer for England in the 80th minute, his first goal in this Euro edition, and converting his penalty in the shootout, rectifying his missed spot-kick in the final three years prior. He made four successful dribbles and two key passes, both match-highs, with an 86% pass completion rate.

De Vrij (Netherlands)

De Vrij started and played the full match, heading home a Depay cross in the 70th minute to level the score. He had the most touches (96) on the pitch, a 92% pass accuracy, and contributed three clearances and one tackle.

JRodriguez (Colombia)

In Colombia’s 5-0 win over Panama to reach the semis, Rodriguez played 73 minutes, providing one goal and two assists in the first half, single-handedly creating three goals. With an 86% pass success rate, he now has five assists in this Copa America, becoming the second player after Messi to achieve this feat in a single tournament.

Roache (Uruguay)

Uruguayan goalkeeper Roache made three crucial saves and denied Militao’s penalty in the first round of the shootout, securing his team’s passage to the Copa America semi-finals.