Rio Ferdinand reacts to Cole Palmer’s penalty as England beat Switzerland at Euro 2024

England beat Switzerland on Saturday evening in a penalty shootout to reach the semi-finals of Euro 2024. For Chelsea fans, they got to see Cole Palmer come off the bench and do what he does best. Breel Embolo put Switzerland 1-0 ahead in the 75th-minute with his opening goal.

However, England winger Bukayo Saka equalised just five minutes later to level the contest. The nations went to extra-time and were locked together after 120 minutes of football. However, Gareth Southgate’s side will play either the Netherlands or Turkey in the semis next week after winning 5-4 in the penalty shootout.

Chelsea’s Palmer entered the action with England trailing the game, but it was another eye-catching performance from him off the bench. The 22-year-old attacker topped it off by calmly scoring the first goal in the shootout victory.

Rio Ferdinand reacts to Cole Palmer penalty

Pundit and former England star Rio Ferdinand showered Palmer with praise for the quality of his spot-kick. He’s been scoring penalties for fun at club level for the last year, so it was no surprise to see him score past a goalkeeper that dived the wrong way.

Ferdinand said on BBC One’s coverage of England vs Switzerland (7:50pm, 6 July): “He is a kid, man. I always say this about him. It feels like his approach is just like he is going to Goals in his area. He is just ice cool.”

Chelsea man must start in the semis

The Chelsea Chronicle fully believes that Palmer has to be promoted into England’s XI for the semi-finals. There’s been a real struggle with the forward line creating and scoring chances on the main. Of course, Saka was an exception to that against the Swiss.

Surely, Palmer will inject something extra if he’s given the opportunity to start from the beginning of the game. It was fantastic to see him convert his penalty. However, he’s so much more than just that. Now England are through to the last four, let’s hope the Chelsea ace is just getting started in this international tournament.