The English fans shouted ‘Hey Judas like rain in drought. To a performance of the Real Madrid footballer, perhaps with the recent memory of that Chilean to the limit against Slovakia, which saved England from ruin. Not the drive that made his faltering journey through Euro 2024 continue this Saturday, exposed against Switzerland.
Because as soon as the Swiss team freed themselves from the fears of the first half, given what they had seen of England, and decided to take a new step, they discovered all the fears of England even more. A team reduced the environment, expectant, entrusted to the counter-attack, to an individuality, whether it was called Bellingham, Foden or Kane. His only desire.
While Pickford intervened, without really stopping, on Embolo’s excitement in two problems in the English area, his team played without soul, but also without enough preparation or mechanisms to have any other plan than to wait for every mistake, every individuality, every blow of fate that would suddenly send him to the semi-finals.
He has tempted fortune so often that his effort is the only thing that can match the Eurocup candidate level he has put on his poster since arriving in Germany. Moreover, the substitutes hardly count for Southgate, who once again exceeded seventy minutes of absolute nonsense, dysfunctional as a team, without a single variation from the bench. He has them (Cole Palmer, Eberechi Eze, Ollier Watkins, Jarrod Bowen or Ivan Toney)He doesn’t use them.
And when you play so hard and have nothing to offer, that’s what happened to England. Another Swiss attack, one of many in the second half, ended in the area with Ndoye’s centre, Stones’ failed attack and Embolo’s timely shot to tell England and Southgate that their cycle is exhausted. It was long overdue.
With the score at 0-1, Southgate made changes immediately afterwards. He removed Trippier, Mainoo and Konsa, amidst the unprecedented anxiety of England, who are happy. It is beyond doubt. Quality too. In that combination, Saka, who had done almost everything wrong in attack, suddenly shot with his left side wide of the post of Sommer, who only observed the equalizer, without reaction, to force an extra time that had not previously been made possible.
Finally, around the 96th minute, already in extra time, England made a stop from Sommer, with a right hand from 30 yards from Rice. As when he caught another glimpse of his fall, for a while it was the team that can no longer stand to lose than the team that settles for a draw, heading into the decisive penalty shootout, with the fear of a direct corner from Shaqiri hitting the crossbar. And in the end, he won. Again, to the hilt. Now, Netherlands or Turkey.
Source: El heraldo
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
