[ad_1]
England 4 Ukraine 0 in Rome
This was probably the most entertaining night English football fans in 30 years. It wasn’t as exciting as the 4-1 blow in the Netherlands in 1996 or the 1-5 victory in Germany in 2001, but that was the point: except for ten minutes of anxiety just before the break, an organized England without precedents controlled the quarterfinals of a major tournament, albeit against opponents who had not made their way there.
Gareth Southgate’s team has acquired the continental virtues of possession and positioning, while retaining the British virtue of air force, an area in which it may be the world’s leading team: three of its goals in Rome this night and four of his last five, came from headers. With a semifinal at Wembley against Denmark on Wednesday, England is the favorite to reach its first final of a major tournament in most of our lives.
Credit goes first to Southgate. All of the manager’s options at Euro 2020 have paid off: switching to five behind against Germany, England’s only crunchy game so far; the cameos he has given to his cast of young creators, Jack Grealish in previous games, Jadon Sancho tonight; his persistence with Harry Kane even when the center-forward was invisible in the first three-and-three-quarter games; and maintain the loyalty of his players by supporting his decision to get on his knees in support of Black Lives Matter when the British Prime Minister made a mistake.
But Southgate also has a better squad to cover than even the “golden generation” of the early 2000s. The only other team in this tournament with the strength of England in depth was France, which came out early. Almost no other team has 11 international-class players, but England have about 15, allowing Southgate to spin with impunity. Youth academies are now so good in England (and in the case of Sancho, in Germany) that the coach can throw himself on youngsters who can immediately tackle international football.
Most of all, he has Raheem Sterling: It’s hard to think of another modern England player who can dribble opponents so easily. It was Sterling who cut Ukraine in the fourth minute with his pass to Kane.
This team also benefited from having conducted a general rehearsal Euro 2020: the 2018 World Cup in Russia. There they also went to the semifinals, but threw it in the traditional English way: scoring in the first few minutes, then parking in their own penalty area, opening clearances directly to Croatia, until their opponents went grant possession without problems. inevitably scored twice.
In Rome, England showed that they had learned from that experience: after Kane’s opening goal, they defended mostly 40 or more meters from their own goal, passed patiently and kept the fifth sheet clean in five games of this tournament .
So far, everything at Euro 2020 has gone to England. They haven’t tired of playing overtime, and this trip to Rome was their only trip abroad, while their rivals are crossing the continent. England have not faced a shootout where their expulsors should have shown their first-choice penalties. They have no suspended or injured players. And a route largely from home to the final leading up to Ukraine and Denmark is so straightforward, even if England should stumble on Wednesday.
Didier Deschamps, the French coach who won the last World Cup, once said that the two most important players on a team are the goalkeeper and the central striker. He explained to the “truth zones” of the field that the matches are decided.
This is an omen for England. Jordan Pickford in goal, a “tournament player” who surpasses his league, has been almost flawless at the Euro 2020 bar tonight. Ahead, Kane’s two goals, added to his strike against Germany last week, may have posed a psychological hurdle. He has spent most of his career at Tottenham as the club’s hero with no obligation to win trophies.
For England, Kane he used to freeze in big games, knowing that he was the main man on the team and that these were the matches that would define his career. In the defeat against Iceland at Euro 2016, England’s last classic humiliation, he seemed so nervous that he couldn’t even lift his free throws in the penalty area. In Russia, his only shot in the playoffs was his penalty against Colombia. And Euro 2020 started terribly. If you are now back in shape at Spurs, where last season remarkably accounted for more than half of your club’s goals and assists, then watch out for Europe.
It is true that Ukraine was an ideal opponent: a poor team coming out of the tournament after losing three of its five matches and beating only Northern Macedonia in 90 minutes. His ambition in Rome seemed not to avoid defeat, but to avoid humiliation.
What weaknesses in England’s performance here could give hope to Denmark and the other semi-finalists, Italy and Spain? Opponents may want to let England’s weakest passers-by, Harry Maguire and Kyle Walker, get possession in the back and then press them.
But for the first time since 1966, the best bet to win the tournament is now England.
[ad_2]
Source link
