Bellingham’s miracle goal saved Southgate from disgrace, and Kane brought victory to the Three Lions
Slovakia was a minute and a half away from creating a major sensation 2024 European Championshipbut still gave in England in a dramatic confrontation in the 1/8 finals – 1:2.
England played frankly poorly. The Slovaks regularly ran into dangerous attacks at first, and breakthroughs by David Hantzko and Lukas Haraslin could have resulted in goals. Finally, the underdog opened the scoring – after a subtle pass from David Strelets, Ivan Schranz skillfully dealt with Jordan Pickford, scoring his third goal of the tournament.
For the rest of the time, the Three Lions had undivided possession of the ball, but they had obvious problems creating chances. Gareth Southgate’s side scored just after the break, but Phil Foden ruled out for offside.
England failed to find the target in 90 minutes, with Newcastle’s Martin Dubravka left with little to do. The favourites had a chance to save themselves, but Harry Kane, in his record-breaking official match, missed from the goal line and Declan Rice’s long-range effort rattled the post.
It was the fifth minute of added time out of six when Jude Bellingham took on the role of national saviour. The Real Madrid midfielder scored a masterpiece with a diving overhead kick after a pass from Marc Guehi to send the game into extra time.
And already in the first minute of injury time the English took the lead – Harry Kane closed the pass from the fresh Ivan Toney at point-blank range. After that the favorite played according to the result, and the Slovaks attacked with all their strength. In the 105th minute Francesco Calzona’s team was close to a second goal, but 37-year-old Peter Pekarík lacked a little to close the far post.
England made it to the quarter-finals with incredible problems. There, Southgate’s team will take on Switzerland on July 6.
- Euro 2024. 1/8 finals
England — Slovakia — 2:1 (0:1, 1:0, 1:0)
Goals: Bellingham 90+5, Kane 91 – Schranz 25
Source: Sportarena
I’m Scott Moore, a professional writer and journalist based in the US. I’ve been writing for various publications for over 8 years now, and have been working as an author at athletistic for the past five years. My work has been featured by some of the leading sports websites and magazines across Europe.
