Aston Villa man Ollie Watkins had the final say in an exhilarating semi-final game in the European Championship (Euros) as England came from behind to beat the Netherlands 2-1 in Dortmund to advance to the tournament’s final on Sunday.
The atmosphere prior to kick off was electrifying. No seats were left unoccupied as Borussia Dortmund’s Signal Iduna park was filled to the rafters, with orange the predominant colour amongst many others.
And rightfully so, Netherland’s passionate supporters turned up in their numbers with approximately 100,000 fans – which is a record – galavanting through the city of Dortmund in Germany in wait of the semi final clash.
Xavi Simons was quick to repay the vociferous Dutch supporters, who prior to kick off were reveling in Germany, twirling their shirts in the air in the streets of Dortmund, through to the stadium.
Simons outmuscled Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice, before he let fly from distance, leaving goalkeeper Jordan Pickford with no chance, and ultimately putting the Dutch ahead on the night.
England, however, got back on level terms from the spot after 17 minutes, with Kane converting expertly for his 66th international goal.
A response from the Dutch looked imminent, but the towering header of Denzel Dumfries greased the top of Pickford’s bar on the half hour mark.
Two minutes down the other end and Phil Foden, from a similar position to Lamine Yamal’s worldie against France last night, produced a curling effort which completely beat Dutch keeper Verbruggen, but failed to dip underneath the bar, rattling the frame of the goal and going behind.
The halfway stage meant the teams could not be separated after a frantic half.
The second half was short of chances, with the first opening coming after 64 minutes; Van Dijk directed Veerman’s free kick goal wards, but his attempt was thwarted by Pickford from point blank range.
It was all Netherlands as Xavi Simons spurned a half chance two minutes later, before Bukayo Saka tucked the ball home for England, but saw his goal ruled out for offside.
With 10 minutes to go, Southgate looked to his bench, a final throw of the dice it seemed. Much to the amusement of the English supporters in the stadium and at home, he took off Harry Kane and Phil Foden, replacing them with Ollie Watkins and Cole Palmer.
Southgate’s changes paid off a minute from time as the substitutes combined to seal the win for England.
Cole Palmer played Watkins through, as the Aston Villa man swiveled and fizzed a shot along the ground from an accute angle, going past Verbruggen.
England, although a hard watch all tournament, have forced their way to Sunday’s final.
Southgate spot on!
For all the stick he has received, Southgate’s changes in the knockout stages for England have been right on cue.
The introduction of Ivan Toney in the game against Slovakia paid dividend as the Brentford man flicked a header into the path of Harry Kane to grab the winner, while three of his substitutes went on to ensure England made their way to the semi final after a gut-wrenching shootout against Switzerland in the quarters.
Tonight, Cole Palmer and Ollie Watkins’ combination and finish further added gloss to Southgate’s course of mixing it up at the right time.
There were groans and grumblings when Southgate took off Harry Kane with 10 minutes to go – after the forwards first half goal meant he had become the player with the most knockout goals (6) in the history of the Euros.
Southgate, who had cups of beer hurled at him earlier in the tournament, was seen jigging after the win against Switzerland and tonight.
His ingenuity in this instance won the game as Palmer and Watkins fired England to Sunday’s final against Spain — their second successive final; first time in the history of the country.
England have an opportunity to win an elusive Euros crown and a first trophy since 1966, when they won the World Cup under Alf Ramsey.
Southgate’s record speaks volumes, as his team becomes the fourth different nation to make it to consecutive European Championship finals.
England will hope for a better outcome this time around (after losing to Italy in the last edition) against a high- flying Spain in Berlin on Sunday.
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Story by: Andrews Sefa Bamfo| univers. ug.edu.gh
