Eight years ago, England were sent packing from the first hurdle of the knockout stage at Euro 2016 by a nation with a population of just 300,000.
That fateful day, Roy Hodgson’s side could not find a way past a resolute Iceland for 72 minutes after Wayne Rooney had opened the scoring in the fourth minute from the penalty spot.
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It is one of the darkest chapters in England’s football history.
Yet that catastrophe was on the brink of being surpassed.
Gareth Southgate was about to have his Iceland moment.
For 70 painstaking minutes, England could not find a way to break down Slovakia, the world No. 45, after Ivan Schranz had put the underdogs ahead midway through the first half.
But then Jude Bellingham happened, with the $166m superstar scoring a bicycle kick in the 95th minute to jolt English hearts and break those of the Slovakians.
Harry Kane then struck in the first minute of extra time to put England ahead and subsequently lock up a spot in the quarterfinal.
How Southgate must’ve breathed a heavy sigh of relief, even if he declared after the match he “never felt like tonight would be the end of our tournament.”
The England boss, along with his players, might’ve been the only ones who still believed they would pull a rabbit out of the hat.
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However, Manchester United great Gary Neville believes Southgate must surely recognise he flew perilously close to the sun against Slovakia and was minutes away from becoming public enemy No. 1.
“Relief is the word of the day,” Neville told ITV.
“We’ve been very lucky and we should thank our lucky stars.
Neville added: “I’ve played with Gareth Southgate and I know him. He’s a great guy and he’s got massive integrity, but he will realise tonight that he was so close to the edge. Very close to the edge.”
It was as dire a performance as they come, with The Athletic’s Jack Pitt-Brooke noting “it was as bad as they (England) had played all tournament, even worse than Denmark and Slovenia.”
Once again, England lacked rhythm going forward, so much so that Bellingham’s stoppage time equaliser the team’s first shot on target.
Southgate has proven he is an excellent man-manager, especially for England.
For so long, players had become shrinking violets when wearing the iconic white strip but Southgate built an environment that lifted the weight of expectation off their shoulders.
It may not have been the sexiest of football, but you could tell the players stepped onto the pitch without feeling the pressure from the supporters and enjoyed a sense of freedom on the pitch.
But now that the pressure is creeping in and Southgate’s man management skills are not working like they used to, we’re starting to see the England boss’ many limitations, especially tactically.
And yes, you can tell the players are feeling the pressure given Bellingham’s comments in the post-match press conference, where he hit out at the “rubbish” being spoken by pundits.
“The fans expect a lot from us regardless of what happened in recent tournaments years and years ago,” Bellingham said.
“People talk a lot. You do have to take it personally a little bit. We work so hard at this game.
“We come in every day, we work hard to put on a performance for the fans, sometimes it doesn’t go well and sometimes it feels like there’s a bit of a pile on, it’s not nice to hear.
“But you can always use it and for moments like that, it’s nice to throw it back to some people.”
Regardless of how poor England may have been at Euro 2024, they live to fight another day.
For Southgate, it means he has made the quarterfinals at every major tournament since he took over before the 2018 World Cup.
It is a testament to Southgate that England have enjoyed this level of consistency and he deserves all the plaudits for doing so.
Teams rarely get rewarded for playing an attractive brand of football at tournaments because it’s win at all costs.
Perhaps we will all be praising Southgate even more highly when it’s all said and done because history won’t remember how England played, only how they ended Euro 2024.
It’s not out of the question to say it could end in triumph given how the draw has opened up for the Three Lions.
England will face a tricky Switzerland side in the quarterfinals, a team that looked slick and well-drilled in their 2-0 win over Italy in the Round of 16.
Win that and one of Austria, the Netherlands, Romania or Turkiye awaits in the semi final.
But to spend even a second thinking about what could lay ahead is exactly the arrogant mentality which almost cost England so dearly against Slovakia.
It’s now up to Southgate to ensure that same arrogance doesn’t penetrate the walls he worked tirelessly to build around this team before they take on the Swiss.
Bellingham’s comments prove that cracks are appearing, but there’s no better man than the England boss to seal them.
Source Agencies
