England head into yet another European Championship Final thanks to a 2-1 win over the Netherlands. Here’s what we learnt from the semi-final in Dortmund.
Watkins Takes His Chance
Harry Kane has always been the man that England rely on to get them out of trouble, which he did with the fortuitous penalty.
Throughout England’s route to the final, different individuals have stood up at the most crucial moments.
This time, it was the Aston Villa goal machine, who came on to replace the England Captain in the 81st minute.
Beautifully set up by Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, who replaced Phil Foden in the 80th minute.
This is the perfect example of the strength in depth of this England squad, that England fans have been urging Gareth Southgate to use more often.
We all know that Southgate has always favoured reputation instead of form when it comes to picking his squad, and especially his starting XI.
But what he has done in certain moments of this European campaign, is allowed the other fringe players to step in and make a name for themselves.
And Watkins showed no sign of hesitation in doing just that.
Soft Penalty
In terms of England’s equaliser in the 18th minute, you have to say that they were slightly fortunate to get it.
Interestingly, the recommendation from the VAR Rules Expert was that it wasn’t a penalty, however, when Referee Felix Zwayer was asked to look at the monitor, he changed his mind.
You can understand why he did, due to the high foot, and also the fact that England’s Captain got to the ball first.
But from normal speed, it looked like a 50/50 call and they were both going for the ball.
Had this been a Premier League game, that may not have stood as those calls tend to go in favour of the team that the decision was given against?
But as an England fan, you would take it, especially what has happened with England in past tournaments i.e. Lampard’s disallowed goal vs Germany in 2010, or Saka’s penalty against France not given.
Great Intensity from England
What has also been a huge improvement in the last two games, has been the intensity in which the team has played, particularly in the last two games.
At one stage, you would have thought that England was lucky to have reached even the quarter-finals. But the way the team had played in the last two games, both in and out of possession, was outstanding.
They will need to be as good if not better in that aspect in the final against Spain, for a chance to take home the European Championship.
Foden’s Best Performance For England
Up until yesterday’s game, we have hardly seen the Manchester City superstar produce his best in an England shirt, but yesterday he was exceptional.
He almost scored one of the goals of the tournament, when he slid the ball under Bart Verbruggen, only to be denied off the line by Denzel Dumfries.
Can he do something special for England in the Final
So these were our top moments from England vs Netherlands.
