(England – Slovakia 2-1 eeo) England looked set against the lowest-ranked opposition they had ever faced in the knockout stages of a championship. Then Jude Bellingham (21 yesterday) conjured.
GelsenkirchenMonday 1 July at 09:25
The short version
- Jude Bellingham’s brace ensured extra time after 96 minutes against Slovakia.
- Harry Kane led 2-1 at the start of extra time and sent England through to the quarter-finals.
- England avoided an embarrassing exit and will meet Switzerland in the quarter-finals.
Sea view
He woke Gelsenkirchen from its funereal mood with a brass kick that felt almost worth 2.8 billion – the price tag of England’s golden boy.
– I know what I can deliver in those moments, no matter what people think, says Bellingham in an interview shown on TV 2.
Athleticism from the Real Madrid superstar was England’s first finish on goal. After 95 minutes. It ensured extra innings after the lions looked like cats in the previous 94.
As his teammates hit the pitch from the bench to celebrate 1-1 as European Championship gold, the Bellingham overtime specialist stopped and shouted “who else?” towards the stands.
– The adrenaline takes you. Playing for England is a great feeling, but there is also a lot of pressure. People throw a lot of shit. It’s nice to give a little back when you deliver. It’s hard to speak as openly as we’d like, because we’re always judging. Maybe it was a message for a few people, but I was very happy and full of adrenaline, explains Bellingham at the press conference.
Just two minutes into the 1st extra time, captain Harry Kane went ahead 2-1. The game turned around, and for the fifth time in 38 EC games, a team went from 0–1 to victory.
– What do you mean by “people throw a lot of shit”?
– Playing for England should be one of the proudest things you do, but it can often be difficult. There is a lot of pressure and the fans expect a lot from us. People talk a lot and you have to take it a little personally. We train and work hard, and sometimes things don’t go well. But you can always use it, and at moments like that it’s nice to send a message back to certain people, Bellingham replies.
A throw-in from Kyle Walker, a header from Marc Guehi and a perfect finish from Bellingham help England through to the quarter-finals against Switzerland in Düsseldorf.
At the same time, they avoided an embarrassing event and a repeat of the nightmare of eight years ago:
Then an underdog in the blue jerseys of England entered the EC round of 16. But the Slovakian did not write the adventure that Lars Lagerbäck managed Iceland on the great night in Nice in 2016.
England came to Gelsenkirchen this Sunday as the high priest of the most boring EC group ever: Seven goals in the six pool games, where England contributed 1–0, 1–1 and 0–0.
And it didn’t look like things were going to improve from the start against Slovakia – England’s worst five world championship opposition since FIFA rankings were introduced in 1993.
Slovakia is ranked 45th, narrowly ahead of Norway (46), and is the third lowest ranked team in the competition, with only Albania and Georgia just shy of the Nations League.
In comparison, Iceland was at number 34 at the time eight years ago.
– This is all about Iceland, he warned former national team defender and assistant Gary Neville on the ITV broadcast during the break.
He sat on the bench as part of the support apparatus at the time in the European Championship in France eight years ago and he probably felt scary good again.
For Slovakia the best started. After two early chances for Lukas Haraslin on the left, they found the opening on the right: Ivan Schranz made a deep run after Guehi missed his header, and with that the whole of England’s defensive organization unravelled. The striker Strelec released the ball perfectly to his teammate, who scored the great goal after 25 minutes.
The rest of the half is best summed up with English figures: 77 percent possession, five corners – and zero shots on target. Slovakia had one.
The game picture after the break was very similar. Phil Foden, who is back in the national team environment after returning home as a result of a decision on the way, pushed the ball over the line. But it was upside down when Kieran Trippier’s pass left his foot and England were still at nil.
Neville, Roy Keane and Ian Wright immediately claimed substitutes at half-time.
– It cannot be legal for Trent Alexander-Arnold not to play this game. He is the best football playing back we have had in the country. He has to be on the pitch, Neville said – and he thought Southgate just had to look beyond the pros, CV and name and make changes.
The manager of the England national team clearly had a different opinion. The Slovakian made two changes before Southgate took action. Almost halfway through the second half, in-form player Cole Palmer got his chance. Alexander-Arnold did not enter.
Although the Slovaks managed two more before Southgate made another move by offloading teenager Kobbie Mainoo from Manchester United and replacing him with Crystal Palace’s Eze in the fifth cap.
Then Declan Rice had just shot on the post, kicking in the Harry Kane rebound. It was England’s best chance in regular time until Bellingham produced some magic in extra time.
In injury time, Southgate threw on Ivan Toney. It just paid off: he set up Kane for the winning goal with a header. Other than that, the extra 2nd round was mainly to protect yourself.
England managed to get that right, Slovakia’s efforts were not really dangerous, and Toney should have made it 3-1 in the final minute, but he shot over.