European Football Championships on channels 14.6.–14.7. Go to the competition website from this link.
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England could have watched the European football tournament from the choir for a long time. However, the team has found a strong ability to stretch in decisive moments time after time.
Now the country is in the men’s EC football final for the second time in a row.
The place in the final was secured on Wednesday, when England defeated Holland in the semi-final with 2–1 goals. The Netherlands had scored the opening goal, but England equalized and sealed their victory in the last seconds of regulation time.
England have been on the losing side in all of their play-off matches. It has already scored three goals in the 90th minute or later during this tournament. Earlier, it scored the equalizer in extra time in the quarter-finals and the winner in the extra time, and leveled in the quarter-finals in the 80th minute.
Parjatu’s head coach Gareth Southgate the team hasn’t celebrated or had much fun, but progressed by the smallest possible margins to Sunday’s final against Spain.
Narrow win over Serbia
Serbia was pushed to the last place in Group C, but it put England on the back burner in the first round. England took the opening victory with a score of 1–0.
England took the lead in the 13th minute when Jude Bellingham headed the ball into the net. After that, it retreated into its shell and began to defend from below. Serbia created pressure, but England’s defense held until the end.
After the match, it was said that the first match is always exciting and challenging, and that England got the most important one, the opening win.
– The tournament has been started with a win, and the biggest pressure is gone in terms of “what if we don’t win today”. With a tight comb, however, you can search for things that England would like to see again in their game, Urheilu’s expert Toni Koskela said on the 11 friends podcast.
A disappointing draw against Denmark
The second resistance was more sophisticated. Among other things, a Manchester United player Christian Eriksen Denmark was hungry for a win after being held to a draw with Slovenia. It didn’t happen, but it did.
The pattern was similar to England’s opener. This time, the captain scored the opening goal in the 18th minute Harry Kane.
England became passive, Denmark equalized, and in the end, without additional hits, they were forced to share the points.
In the British media, the performance was described as frustrating and messy. The next place has not been confirmed yet.
– It’s so sad as a football fan. There’s so much talent out there, but we don’t get to see what it could be, Urheilu’s expert Toni Korkeakunnas lamented.
Continuation with a lifeless performance
If after the first match it was thought that a narrow victory over Serbia would start an upward tournament, then the truth was different. England’s last match in the group stage was its most modest.
A goalless draw with Slovenia put both countries into the playoffs. England, hailed as the champion favorite, shot at the goal three times. Slovenia celebrated their promotion as England supporters booed their own and threw beer mugs in the direction of head coach Southgate.
– When you look at the ball game with those players, in such a nasty way, if football is really “coming home”, quite a lot of people have fallen asleep by the time they are at the door, said Urheilu’s expert Miika Nuutinen.
Scissors kick save
Bellingham saved Southgate from sure kicks in the first game of the playoffs. England beat Slovakia in what was described as a stunning rescue – and not in vain.
Slovakia’s Cinderella story hung in the air as the underdog led until extra time. Then Bellingham came forward. There was a minute and a half left of the six minutes of extra time when the youngster charged England with a scissor kick.
In the follow-up match, Slovakia faltered quickly. Kane scored what turned out to be the winning goal 2–1 in the first minute. As a special feature, Bellingham’s equalizer was marked in the 95th minute, but Kane’s winning goal in the follow-up match was already four minutes earlier.
Myth-busting action drama
Switzerland also thought they had put England in a final noose when the quarter-finals of the European Championship were played. Breel Embolo scored the first goal of the match for the surprise of the tournament, when there was only a quarter of a quarter of a game left.
Apparently, England needed another shock treatment to get back to their best. Bukayo Saka came to the fore by getting into the draw and scoring the equalizer ten minutes before the end.
This time, the decision did not come in the follow-up match, but only in the penalty shootout. As is the case historically, all five of England’s shots were successful in their attempts, and the dream of the championship was kept alive by a hair’s breadth.
The final goal in the last seconds
The last wild rise was seen on Wednesday. England was defeated again, already in the 7th minute. Ten minutes later, Kane equalized from the penalty spot.
A rematch seemed inevitable, but two seconds before the end of the 90 minutes there was a thump. Replaced by Kane Ollie Watkins hit a hard shot from a difficult angle that sent England into the final match.
– We made history. Great achievement, I’m proud of everyone. This has been a really difficult tournament and it feels special that we were able to perform like this “away”. There’s still something left, Kane said.
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