England avoided a historic disaster in Euro-2024 this Sunday against a Slovakia that reached the round of 16 of a major tournament for the second time in its history and that has never managed to go further.
“I’m very proud of my players and their attitude. Everyone helped, everyone pushed and helped each other. That made a difference,” Southgate said in an interview with the BBC.
The English, current runners-up in Europe, dream of winning their second major title after the already distant 1966 World Cup.
The composition of the lineup seems to favor this possibility, as England can be considered the strongest team on their side.
Switzerland, who knocked out Italy on Saturday, will be the opponent in the quarter-finals and in a possible semi-final their opponent would come from the quartet formed by the Netherlands, Romania, Turkey and Austria.
But to achieve this, the ‘Three Lions’ will have to roar louder. They were already criticized in the group stage, and even booed last Sunday by the fans, due to the lack of forcefulness and goals.
The suffering of beating Slovakia should not calm the spirits, but Southgate can be proud of once again reaching the quarter-finals, a stage he has always reached since taking office in 2016.
In this Sunday’s match, at Schalke 04’s stadium, England had two different faces.
The Slovak ‘Falcons’ started better, created the best opportunities and were rewarded with a goal from Ivan Schranz, who managed to deceive Jordan Pickford with a shot with the outside of his right foot.
In the second half, England reacted against the 45th placed team in the FIFA rankings.
A Phil Foden goal was ruled out for offside (50′), Kane almost scored with a header (78′) and Declan Rice’s shot hit the post (81′).
Slovakia resisted and were already a foot and a half into the quarterfinals… until Bellingham appeared. After a throw-in, the ball was headed in by Marc Guehi and the Real Madrid star, with a bicycle, scored the equalizer to the delight of the English fans.
“To score such an important goal, for the country and in a knockout match, is a feeling like no other,” Bellingham said after the triumph.
The match went into extra time and right from the start Kane scored 2-1 with a header, a score that ended up being definitive.
“We are proud, of course. We played a great game against a high-level opponent, one of the favourites. We gave them few chances, we almost eliminated them, but unfortunately it didn’t go well,” lamented Slovakia’s coach, the Italian Francesco Calzona.
When the referee whistled the end of the game, the English fans in Gelsenkirchen celebrated in style and with relief a painful classification, shouting at the top of their lungs “Sweet Caroline”, one of the songs with which they celebrate their team’s victories.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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