England Return to the World Cup Semifinals
Harry Maguire's header and Dele Alli's impressive English game led Gareth Southgate's men to the World Cup semi-finals for the first time in 28 years, when England finished fourth at the 1990 World Cup in Italy. England eliminated Sweden after a 2-0 win at Samara Arena. Maguire opened up his side's lead in the 30th minute and Alli doubled the lead after halftime, as Gareth Southgate's young squad continued to outpace pre-tournament expectations with a convincing performance.
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This time it was not Harry Kane who became the main star, but England found another hero on the pitch when Jordan Pickford made three good saves to silence Sweden. Hosts Russia or Croatia, who will meet on Saturday night and have a lower rank than Southgate's forces, will be England's hurdle to his first World Cup final since lifting the trophy in 1966. Sweden reached the quarter-finals by eliminating opponents who were on paper superior. Initially, England was seen not able to play the operand to penetrate the defense meeting opponent. However, as predicted, the deadlock finally broke from the dead ball situation.
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England pounded without reaping results before Ashley Young kick off a corner on the left side. Curved kick was met by Maguire who pushed forward and outperformed Emil Forsberg to then release a hard header into the goal. It was England's eighth goal from a dead ball situation. Raheem Sterling faced a lot of criticism because of the difficulty of scoring goals. His critics got more ammunition as the Manchester City winger striker twice failed to beat Swede goalkeeper Robin Olsen despite being in good shape. Score was almost a draw if Pickford did not do a good save to hold Berg's header.
However, a deadly blow for Sweden was created in the 59th minute when Jesse Lingard's cross into the penalty box headed Alli unmarked at the far post to conquer Olsen. England who have not "clean sheet" in four previous matches, should thank Pickford for ensuring their goal is not conceded. The goalkeeper made a fine save against Viktor Claesson's efforts before dismissing Berg's shot over the bar, and that was enough to ensure Sweden's hopes of reaching their first semi-final since 1994 ran aground.
I have been waiting for England to do well since 1966... This however isn't what I had in mind. I understand die-hard fans are ecstatic right now. But let's get real, who did they play on the way here, anyone more than just decent? Even if they get passed Croatia, still, even though Croatia is a kick-ass team, it won't be an epic road to the final by any stretch of imagination... What it might provide with is, however, a good confidence boost for future, which will be a very good thing of course. It may also provide with an opposite, an unjustified belief in their greatness, which will certainly bite back on the next big tournament.