England winger Bukayo Saka said he would be “more than happy” if he were to take a penalty against France in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
Saka was one of three players to miss a kick in Englanddefeat in the Euro final against Italy last year.
He was the victim of racist abuse online after the final at Wembley, but he says the “love from the fans” helped him regain his confidence.
“Personally, I tried to move on,” Saka said.
“Obviously I know I can never really forget that – it’s there in the story.
“But at the same time, coming here and scoring those three goals, of course, has lifted me a lot – and the love from the fans that I continue to receive has also lifted me a lot and gives me a lot of confidence.
“I’ve matured and improved a lot since then. I wouldn’t have increased the number of times I have for Arsenal if I wasn’t confident.
“If the time comes and I’m selected to take it, I’ll be more than happy to do so.”
Saka, 21, says England have nothing to fear against the World Cup holders on Saturday.
“There is a lot of tournament experience [in the squad] now,” Saka said.
“If you look at the results of the last tournaments we’ve been in, we have a semi-final, a final and a quarter-final.
“So when the big games come we have a lot of players who know what they have to do.”
Kylian Mbappe is the top scorer at this World Cup with five, while Saka is tied for second with three.
When asked if he could be the star of Qatar 2022, like Mbappe was four years ago in Russia, Saka replied: “Thanks for the compliment, but no.
“There is only one Kylian Mbappe, but at the same time there is only one me. I just want to be myself and help my team as best I can.
“There are so many young players in this tournament and I can name so many, even in my own team – there is another young player alongside us who is doing incredibly well in Jude Bellingham.
“I’m just happy that we’re all here, that everything is going well and that the priority is trying to win the tournament rather than being the player of the tournament or the young player of the tournament.”
