England’s journey continues in the UEFA Euro 2024 as they managed to hold on to a dramatic 2-1 victory against Slovakia and seal a spot in the quarterfinals. It was far from a straight-out affair that Gareth Southgate’s squad has engineered.
If Southgate was feeling the heat going into this round-of-16 clash, then the opening exchanges would have done little to quell it. With a squad full of talent, the Three Lions looked disjointed from the kick-off. The new midfield pairing, in the shape of Kobbie Mainoo and Declan Rice, failed to assert control in the middle, allowing the Slovaks to get back at England’s vulnerabilities.
After all the pressure, the Slovakians finally clinched a reward in the 25th minute. A shell-shocked England defense could not hold on as David Strelec dilly-dallied on the ball at the edge of the box before finding Ivan Schranz with a perfectly-weighted pass. With two goals to his name already in these finals, Schranz calmly slotted the ball past Jordan Pickford. The celebrations were wild and rightfully so as Schranz’s goal made him the joint top scorer of the tournament alongside Georges Mikautadze and Jamal Musiala.
The response to going behind was, at best, limp. They fashionably, in this first period, created very few opportunities of great meaning—much to the disgust of their travelling fans. Groans and boos greeted them as they trudged off the pitch at half time, facing an uphill battle to save their campaign.
It was quite evident that Southgate’s halftime talk did have a certain element of the desired effect, with England coming out with greater vigour. Five minutes into the second half, one could find Phil Foden finding the back of the net courtesy of a very accurate pass from Kieran Trippier. The Video Assistant Referee ruled the goal offside, which cut the celebrations for England.
That disallowed goal did not deter England from further attacks, with Harry Kane’s header wide and Declan Rice’s long-range effort topped by the Slovakian goalkeeper. It wasn’t until the final moments of the game that England finally broke through.
And then in the fifth minute of stoppage time, Jude Bellingham showed incredible athleticism to score an acrobatic goal from close range. The dramatic equalizer coerced extra time, leaving Slovakia deflated.
Extra time, however, was where England claimed the initiative. With just a minute of the additional 30-minute period, some bad defending from Slovakia saw Kane nod home the winner at the far post. The Slovakians were caught napping on this aggressive attack, and there was nothing to stop England taking the lead.
Despite the best efforts of Slovakia, England clung on to their slender advantage. The final whistle ensured their passage to the quarterfinals, where they will meet the giant-killers of the tournament, Switzerland.
At the end, Southgate accepted it had been a victory that was very hard to come by. “It wasn’t pretty, but we showed tremendous character to fight back. The lads dug deep and got the job done,” he said.
This was a painful reminder that tournament football can be very unforgiving. When preparing for the next assignment, with Switzerland, Southgate will have to plug those glaring defensive frailties and find a way to reconstitute his team to perform at consistent levels over the course of 90 minutes rather than fleeting patches.
That dramatic comeback keeps England’s hopes alive and is definitely a wake-up call. As the tournament progresses, the Three Lions will have to improve their teamwork and find a balance between being resilient and dominant on the pitch if they are to progress further and win the trophy.
