Who else? Jude Bellingham mouthed the words during the wild goal celebrations and it was a good point well made. It simply had to be Bellingham, England’s golden boy, rescuing the team, the nation and surely Gareth Southgate, too, with an act of comic book brilliance just as all seemed lost.
The board had gone up to show six additional minutes at the end of the 90, England trailing to Ivan Schranz’s goal for Slovakia midway through the first half and the obituaries were being written. Hell, they had been written.
Enter Bellingham. It had not really happened for him up to that point, although he was hardly the only England player to have struggled. Yet Bellingham refused to believe it was over. Who else shared the same conviction? Be honest now …
It had been a largely laboured performance by Southgate’s team, of a piece with much of what they had produced during the group stage of this tournament. But when Marc Guéhi flicked on a long Kyle Walker throw-in, five minutes of stoppage time showing, Bellingham had found the space in front of the penalty spot and he leapt into the overhead kick. The technique was exquisite.
England had their reprieve and it was surely a historic moment. When does this ever happen – such a critical goal so late in a knockout tie? When the chips are down, England have tended to subside. Not here and they would turn the screw at the start of extra time.
Harry Kane had laboured as much as any England player; he continues to look short of peak fitness. But when two of Southgate’s substitutes combined, Ivan Toney heading an Eberechi Eze shot across the six-yard box, there was Kane to crash home with his head. Southgate will bring up his 100th game as the England manager against Switzerland in the quarter-finals on Saturday. It was emotional.
The narrative had taken in the only previous tournament meeting between the nations, the 0-0 draw in the final group stage tie at Euro 2016, which saw England leapfrogged by Wales to top spot. It stood to mean a tougher last 16 draw for Roy Hodgson’s team only for Iceland to emerge. Which would be all right, wouldn’t it? On a small level, Slovakia had helped to usher in the age of Southgate. Bellingham ensured it would continue, at least for another game.
England felt the nerves hammer at the outset. It was all so loose from them, errors on the ball, the referee, Umut Meler, looking edgy, too, showing early yellow cards, including one for Guéhi; his second of the tournament, meaning he will be suspended for Switzerland.
Guéhi had played been into trouble by Kieran Trippier and had to jump in on David Strelec; it was a kind of tone-setter from Trippier for England’s passing. There was a booking for Kobbie Mainoo after he trod on Ondrej Duda; another for Bellingham after he swiped at the dangerous Lukas Haraslin, who caused problems for Walker.
England were a tough watch in the first half, slow to move the ball and it was because the options were not there. Too often, they checked inside, the England fans in the crowd – and there were many, many more than the official number of 6,500 – feeling the twist of frustration.
There was a moment on 29 minutes when Jordan Pickford came all the way out of his area to make the extra man in a build-up move; he visibly implored greater urgency while soon afterwards, there were howls from the stands when Trippier looked up the left, gestured that nothing was on and went back.
There were heated discussions between some of the England players, which strangely were played as a montage on the big screen towards the end of the first half. The only surprise was that the boos from the England support which greeted the half-time whistle were not louder.
It was because they desperately wanted to stay with the team. Bellingham tried to surge with the ball before the interval while there were a few flickers from Mainoo and Bukayo Saka. It was nowhere near enough and there was not a real chance in the first half, unless you counted the effort that Trippier wafted high from distance after a Bellingham pass that looked to have been intended for Phil Foden.
Slovakia had advertised the breakthrough goal. It felt as if they quickly realised there was nothing to fear from England. Strelec took a header away from the better placed Juraj Kucka on a free-kick; David Hancko was twice close to making low crosses count and Haraslin saw a shot blocked by Guehi, Trippier completing a scrambled clearance.
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England looked scrambled and they had it all to do when Stones and Guéhi went for the same aerial ball, Kucha winning it above the latter. Strelec weighed up his options and picked the right one, releasing Ivan Schranz in behind Guéhi. The finish was straightforward.
Southgate resisted what had felt like the strong temptation to make half-time changes. And England were better upon the restart, bringing a higher tempo, pushing Slovakia back.
Foden had the ball in the net from a left-footed Trippier cross only for the VAR to spot he had gone too early and was offside. Kane saw a shot deflect wide. And yet England remained brittle. Walker and Stones – who were both off-key – contrived a ludicrous mix-up that, with Pickford off his line, allowed Strelec to shoot from halfway. He was only narrowly off target.
Southgate introduced Cole Palmer for Trippier, moving Saka over to left-back. It was the manager going for broke, everything on the line. The tension pulsed. Could England manufacture something?
They did but it did not look like being enough. Kane sent a gilt-edged header wide from a Foden cross while Rice rattled the post from outside the box, Kane volleying the rebound down and over. Bellingham, though, had not read the script about what would have been the most inglorious of exits, one to rival Iceland 2016.
Slovakia will not enjoy watching the replays, too many of their defenders sucked towards Guéhi on Walker’s all-or-nothing throw. When Guéhi made the most important flick-on of his life, it was over to Bellingham.
Moments earlier, Southgate had introduced Toney for Foden, switching to a 3-5-2 formation. Eze went to left-wing-back; now it was Saka at right wing-back. It was Toney who made the difference at the start of extra-time, teeing up Kane and thereafter it was a case of England seeing out the game. Southgate went to 5-4-1, Ezri Konsa on at left wing-back, Conor Gallagher in midfield. England fight on.
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