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BBC cut sound after Gary Lineker ‘drops the F bomb’ celebrating England’s win
After criticism that they were too harsh on England, the BBC pundits were full of praise for England’s performance against Switzerland
The BBC cut the sound in their replay of the pundits celebrating England’s dramatic penalty shoot-out triumph against Switzerland after Gary Lineker admitted that he had “dropped the F bomb” in joy.
As has become traditional after a big England match, the BBC showed replays of celebration from various locations, notably Prince William’s fist-pump and applause from inside the stadium but also Lineker and the team in their Berlin studio.
Lineker, Rio Ferdinand, Micah Richards and Frank Lampard had risen to their feet in spontaneous celebration but the sound on the replay unexpectedly disappeared, prompting Richards to ask, “Where’s the sound gone?”
“I think to be honest, I dropped the F bomb,” said Lineker, smiling.
Ferdinand also hailed Bukayo Saka for his “cojones” in first taking and then scoring his penalty following the Arsenal winger’s agony in the European Championship final three years ago against Italy.
Saka had earlier put England level with a wonderful individual goal and then, despite the heartbreak of missing at Wembley in 2021, again volunteered for one of the spot-kicks with the semi-final at stake. “What he had to go through – redemption – the cojones to go up and take that was phenomenal for one so young,” said Ferdinand.
“You can’t help but love him, not only for his football but his personality and character he has shown. When that penalty shoot-out came, there was no doubt he was going to step up. He’s arguably England’s most important player.”
Lineker called Saka “a wonderful young man”, adding: “Perfection, nerveless, magnificent. Boy, did those boys stand tall. In their moment of need, they just stood up to be counted.”
After the controversy over supposedly excessively critical comments from some of the BBC team earlier in the tournament, there was a noticeably upbeat tone to the coverage despite another often laboured performance.
“It was wonderful to watch,” said Ferdinand. “We have been crying out as a nation, as pundits, the media, the fans, for a performance we can be proud of to go, ‘You know what, that’s our boys, that our team.’ It was an improvement. Nerves of steel when it matters. The penalty-takers technically were perfect.”
Lineker specifically praised manager Gareth Southagte for the preparation that had evidently gone into the shoot-out and the choice of penalty takers.
“You have to give Gareth Southgate enormous credit for those penalties,” he said. “They knew what they were doing, knew where they were going to hit it - there was confidence in those players.” Richards added: “It was brave; something to build on.
“We are fans as well, we have emotions, we want England to do well. We don’t want to talk negatively about them; we want to talk positively about them. How they played today was brilliant - still room for improvement, but on the front foot. Everyone feels together.”