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Two second-half substitutions combined to give England another come-from-behind victory at Euro 2024. This time, it was to propel the Three Lions of England and Gareth Southgate into the Euro Final. The England head coach has long faced criticism from England fans for a myriad of reasons. Among those were lack of creativity, unwillingness to push forward and reliance on some players more than others. Yet, the one that most fans took exception to in-game was his lack of substitutions.
Oftentimes, Southgate would wait until it was too late to make meaningful substitutions. Against the Netherlands, he made one substitution before the 80th minute, which raised the concerns once again. However, with 10 minutes to play, Southgate brought on Cole Palmer and Ollie Watkins. The Dutch had control of the ball for much of the second half, but it took one opportunity for those two players to make a difference.
Declan Rice found Cole Palmer on the right side. The Chelsea winger carried the ball forward and played the ball into Watkins. Stefan de Vrij attempted to shield Watkins away, but Watkins turned onto his right foot. A delightful shot along the ground flew into the bottom left corner between the legs of de Vrij. Bart Verbruggen, the goalkeeper for the Netherlands, was helpless as the ball sailed in.
The goal came as the 90 minutes expired. With just two minutes of stoppage time to play, the Netherlands had no time to equalize. Gareth Southgate’s two second-half substitutions were the difference, and the tactics the manager used were effective.
Gareth Southgate delivering Euro success to England despite the critics
With this win over the Netherlands, England has now reached consecutive European Championship Finals. That goes along with a semifinal appearance at the 2018 World Cup and a narrow loss against eventual finalist France at the 2022 World Cup. Say what one will about Gareth Southgate’s avoidance of excitement. These are results, and…
Source link : https://worldsoccertalk.com/uefa-euro/southgates-subs-the-difference-as-england-reaches-euro-final/
Author : Kyle Fansler
Publish date : 2024-07-10 21:53:55
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