On Wednesday night, it was a thrilling end-to-end match involving England🏴 and the Netherlands🇳🇱 in the other ⚽⚽Euro2024 semi at Borussia Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion, Germany. England overcame their rivals in orange to set up a final with Spain.
England Manager Gareth Southgate‘s lineup was the same as that for their quarterfinal game with Turkey, except for Marc Guehi‘s inclusion for Ezri Konsa. On the other hand, Dutch Manager Ronald Koeman opted to switch Steven Bergwijn with Donyell Malen.
England has made back-to-back appearances in the EURO finals, but were unable to lift the trophy last time out.
The Run of Play
The start of the match was electrifying, with England dominating most of the ball and the Netherlands hoping to counter using Malen and Gakpo on the wings.
Right in the seventh minute, Declan Rice was dispossessed of the ball in English by Xavi Simons, who ran through and produced a better shot into the bottom left corner of the post, stunning the English and rocketing the Netherlands to the lead.
England then looked for a way to enter the game, but a general lack of incisiveness hindered their prospects.
Nevertheless, they fashioned a chance after an excellent passage of play saw Harry Kane find Bukayo Saka on the right, with the star boy opting to cut inside and dribble. Still, his shot was blocked, and the rebound fell to Kane, who syed it wide, but moments later, Denzel Dumfries put a block that looked like a lunge on England’s captain.
VAR intervention deemed it a penalty, and Kane coolly slotted it into the net, restoring parity between the two aides.
England looked more dangerous in the first half, as even Phil Foden missed a chance after Kobbie Mainoo gave a through pass, which Foden took up, only to have his effort blocked at the goal line.
However, England still got the last say as substitute Cole Palmer and Ollie Watkins combined in the 90th minute to score a crucial goal, one that sent the Three Lions into another Euro final.
Cole Palmer and Ollie Watkins also became the first substitutes to assist and score a goal, respectively, in the 90th minute, earning a place in the record books.
Player Of The Match
During the end-of-game news conference, Aston Villa’s forward, Watkins, who won the Player of the Match award, said his winning goal for England just at stopped time was a gift from the universe.
“I didn’t dream about that to be honest, I can’t lie, Scoring for England was amazing, but I didn’t ever think I’d be doing it in a tournament like that.
“But the amount of people who messaged me today saying that I was going to score when I got on was ridiculous. They put it out into the universe and it happened, so hopefully they can do the same on Sunday and give me the lottery numbers!
“I’m lost for words really. When you score, the emotions come through your body, but this is just a different feeling. It was slow motion when I ran to the boys to celebrate”.
England face Spain on Sunday, and fans and supporters will be hoping for this all-star performance from the There Lions to ensure they clinch the title.
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