And Jude Bellingham popped up. Sparkling during the first match, less afterwards, the jewel in the crown, who celebrated his 21st birthday on Saturday, responded at the best of times against Slovakia with an incredible acrobatic scissor in added time to allow his team to snatch the extension (90th + 5). In search of a major coronation since 1966, the Three Lions almost fell by the wayside against the totally uninhibited Slovaks, before Harry Kane completely delivered them with a headed goal at the start of extra time (91st).
However, Gareth Southgate’s men have long been in the desert. Without great ideas, they have shown themselves to be very fragile defensively by leaving boulevards to Lukas Haraslin, twirling on his left wing. The Sparta Prague player set the tone from the start of the match, by perfectly serving Hancko in the area, who crossed his shot too much to worry Jordan Pickford (6th). He did it again with a breakthrough in the axis but his attempt with the right was narrowly pushed back by Trippier on the line (11th).
Very aggressive in their interventions, the English accumulated mistakes and conceded three yellow cards within a quarter of an hour of play, as evidenced by that of central defender Marc Guéhi in the third minute. Milan Skriniar’s teammates were then rewarded thanks to their hero, Ivan Schranz, who scored his third goal in four matches in this Euro on a very good shift from David Strelec (25th).
Zero shots in 45 minutes
And after a complicated first period (zero shots on target in 45 minutes), the Three Lions were more offensive and believed they had equalized as soon as they returned from the locker room thanks to Phil Foden, finally flagged offside (51st). They tried to make the difference until the end but neither Kieran Trippier on a caviar from Jude Bellingham (9th), Harry Kane (52nd, 78th) and Declan Rice, who saw his cannonball hit the post, succeeded to equalize (82nd).
The light finally came from Jude Bellingham, who scored his second goal of the competition on his team’s first shot on target to snatch extra time in added time. Thanks to this victory, the finalist of the last Euro joins the quarter-finals, where he will meet Switzerland, winner of Italy, Saturday in Düsseldorf (6 p.m.). The opportunity for the English to show that they are not ready to return home.
