Euro 2024: Villan Hero, Lions One Step Closer
Just when everyone was preparing for another 30 minutes of a close game, a Villan rose to the occasion to become a hero as Ollie Watkins came off the bench to score the winner for England in the final minute of full time and send the Three Lions to their second successive major tournament final.
One of the worst times to concede is the closing stages of a knockout game as there's always no time to react. I remember my team (from work) lost a game recently by conceding with the last kick of the game that took it into penalties which we eventually lost 5-4 as the momentum was already switched to our opponents. I'm not a fan of penalties when my team is concerned but I always love games to end in shootouts when I'm a neutral.
Last night was England's best game so far at this championship in my opinion. I had thought Netherlands would give England a good run for their money given their run up to the semifinal. Aside from Spain, they played the best football at this tournament but England showed more determination and had the ball more. In fact, almost the whole of the first half was played in Le Oranje's half.
Talking about a good night, that game was Phil Foden's best and only good performance so far. I don't know what instructions Southgate gave him, but I saw him veer more into the middle from the left where he started, which meant he was able to affect the game more. He even came close to scoring on a couple of times and also hit the post.
I know a lot of people have been calling for Southgate to drop Harry Kane, even though it's not been pronounced; however, you can't blame the manager for playing a trusted hand. Kane is England's all-time top scorer and has shown to always deliver, regardless of the circumstance. As bad as it has been for him, he's tied of three goals with Cody Gakpo and Daniel Olmo and can still very much win the golden boot as much as the latter. You can argue that he's been scoring penalties, well, he could have as well missed them.
I believe having Watkins is a good option for England and they can rest assured that they have a worthy successor for Kane when he finally decides to leave the team, which I don't think would be any time soon. The other option Southgate could explore is to play both at the same time. It may work as Kane has always liked to drop deep and get involved in the build up and while Watkins can also do same as we've seen with Villa, he still has more presence in the box than Kane.
It was a nice feeling to see two substitutes combine for that goal and I know that assist would do Cole Palmer a lot of good for his confidence. I can see Chelsea fans already taking out the roof top after that assist. No doubt, he's a talent and would get his time with the national team.
I'm happy England are in the final and facing a worthy opponent in Spain. Without dispute, Spain are the favourites but I just want to see this England side win a trophy.
And on to Sunday we wait.
I want Spain to win the trophy, they have been the best team throughout the tournament, and based on that, they deserve the win... but who knows with England!
That game was made for Phil Foden. With the Netherlands sitting so deep, it was reminiscent of a Man City attack v. defence (in the 1st half). Foden saw that and did for England what he does so often for Man City.
In the 2nd half, the Dutch pushed higher up (because Kane can't run in behind) which meant Foden was less effective. But that higher line proved to be the Netherlands undoing when Watkins came on - a man who's only happy when he's running behind which they weren't ready for.
The final could be a very entertaining game.