Despite a squad full of world-class stars, England will need a lot of luck in the European Championship round of 16 to avoid being knocked out of the tournament. The game makes it clear: This team does not deserve a title.
William Laing reports from Gelsenkirchen
You could only shake your head for 90 minutes on Sunday evening in Gelsenkirchen: England, the tournament favorite, were actually 1-0 down in injury time in the round of 16 of the European Championship against the extreme underdog from Slovakia. After a grotesque performance by the “Three Lions”, the biggest sensation of the European Championship so far was taking shape in Gelsenkirchen. Until the damned fifth minute of injury time.
A cross into the center found Jude Bellingham again – and the former BVB star did something that only someone like him is capable of these days. Bellingham attempted an overhead kick and sunk the ball into the Slovakian goal with a dream. An incredible goal that made the stadium explode and sent England into extra time. Bayern’s Harry Kane was then on hand with a header and made his team celebrate for a second time. His goal decided the match: England are in the quarter-finals and will face Switzerland there.
Coach Gareth Southgate’s team just managed to avoid being eliminated from the tournament this time. You wouldn’t really want to call it a deserved success. What England offered that evening in the Arena in Schalke was too sad to watch. Only one thing has become clear: England must not win the European Championship title under any circumstances.
There is a very specific reason for this: it is a disgrace that England, with these world-class players, is putting on one unimaginative performance after another. Harry Kane was the top scorer in the Bundesliga, Jude Bellingham won the Champions League with Real Madrid and was named player of the year in Spain. Phil Foden secured the same award in the English Premier League and players such as Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka are among the absolute best in world football. But in four games at this European Championship, the English team has only put on destructive and completely unsavory performances and then somehow managed to cheat their way through the tournament. This type of football should not be rewarded, and certainly not with the European Championship title.
Coach Gareth Southgate doesn’t seem to be giving his team any ideas about how to play. There is no other explanation for what the spectators in Gelsenkirchen, and also during the preliminary round, saw. For example, against Slovakia, central defender John Stones often didn’t know which of his teammates he should pass to. Not because there were so many options, but because none of them really offered themselves. A disgrace for the million-strong team from the island, where striker Harry Kane was hanging in the air for almost the entire game and seemed like a foreign body in the team structure – and that as captain.
So far, England’s success has at least proven it in sporting terms. But the idea that these terrible performances could ultimately make this team European champions in Germany would really be too much of a good thing.
2024-06-30 19:35:29
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