England boss Gareth Southgate says he allowed the game against Slovakia to drift into the dying seconds because he had a feeling his side would conjure up some magic.
Fans and pundits were aghast that Southgate made only one sub in the first 83 minutes of the last-16 clash in Gelsenkirchen, and brought on a striker, Ivan Toney, with his third sub in the 94th minute of a game they had been losing 1-0 since the first half.
However Southgate had the last laugh in his 99th game in charge of the Three Lions as one of the players he opted not to replace, Jude Bellingham, scored a dramatic overhead kick to send the game to extra-time and then two of his subs combined to set up Harry Kane’s winner.
England are quarter-finalists 
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) June 30, 2024
Southgate told BBC Sport: “I’m so proud of the players and the spirit the lads showed. Everybody we put into the game played a part and helped us get over the line.
“They are all pushing and helping each other and tonight, that made the difference.”
Southgate revealed: “We were thinking should we take (Bellingham) off, but you know he is capable of those sorts of moments.
“We know in the game itself we needed to better with the ball, we couldn’t find the right solutions in the first half and we did it better in the second.
“Under that pressure they kept probing. In the end it is the old fashioned long throw that gets the goal, those moments can happen when you keep wearing a team down.”
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) June 30, 2024
As the clock ticked down and fans frustrations grew, Southgate remained passive, claiming: “I had a funny feeling the game wasn’t dead and I know that sounds ridiculous. We were pushing and probing.
“With 15 minutes to go you wonder if (Bellingham) is out on…
Source link : https://www.101greatgoals.com/news/euro-2024-southgate-2/
Author : Alex Hoad
Publish date : 2024-06-30 20:06:28
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Author : soccernews
Publish date : 2024-06-30 20:14:08
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.