England defeated Slovakia (2-1) and will be in the quarterfinals, but, we insist, you cannot play worse. She looked like the Virgin. Bellingham, rather, to force extra time with a Cristiano Ronaldo-style bicycle kick after the ‘ninety-fifth Ramos’ minute.
God save Bellingham
The English press walked with the knife between its teeth – it had them at its side – to dismember everyone in his path, starting with Southgate, continuing with Kane, Foden and Saka… and ending with Bellingham. Yes, yes, with Jude. The Madrid player had not had a good game. He was lost, confused, without finding his place in Southgate’s tactical mess. To make matters worse, she spent too much energy on unnecessary protests. In the English Federation they were issuing tickets back home. There were barely 30 seconds left when Bellingham invented a bicycle kick that goes straight to the ‘Hall of Fame’ of the Euro Cups. What planet did you come from? What was said. God save Jude. To Southgate, for now, what has prevented him from an (almost) certain dismissal.
Less waist than Southgate
England won, are in the quarterfinals and have a ‘clear’ path to the final, but don’t let the trees prevent us from seeing the forest. The ‘three lions’, with an attack that has scored 186 goals this season, were 30 seconds away from going home against Slovakia, the 45th team in the FIFA ranking. Southgate once again showed that as a coach he has less of a waist than when he played. It seems that the only problem he sees is in the double pivot. In the last three games he has been alternating with Alexander-Arnold, Gallagher and Mainoo – the kid was good – as Rice’s companions. How long will it take you to realize that it is not a question of names, but of your poor proposal? In the end they won the old way: bringing out attackers in bulk and hanging balls into the area. Direct football. In fact, Jude’s bicycle kick was born from a throw-in directly into the area. As she put in her school grades in the past: they need to improve. And a lot.
Schranz, what a discovery
This is the Euro Cup for the ‘outsiders’. If it was already surprising to see Mikautadze ‘top scorer’ alongside Musiala, now Ivan Schranz has joined them. The 30-year-old Slavia winger is causing a sensation. He scored the winning goal against Belgium (0-1), repeated it in the defeat against Ukraine and ‘opened the can’ against England. He thus became the first Slovak to score in the Group Stage of a European Championship. It was, interestingly, the 100th goal of his career. A ‘knife’ on the right. It didn’t help to pass, but in Prague they are already rubbing their hands.
How much is David Strelec worth?
From a Slavia player to a Sparta striker. Harry Kane and David Strelec seemed to have their roles reversed. The Englishman completed a game to forget, although he patched it up with his goal in extra time. For his part, the Slovakian was a candidate for the Ballon d’Or in the first part.. He won (almost) all of them from above: he received, he controlled, he turned… and he got into a pocket of the center backs. Half a goal – he had warned, leaving Haraslin hand in hand – is his. He beat Stones and the pass he makes to Schranz is wonderful. He only needed to score from midfield the goal that Pelé did not score. It would have been 0-2, too. He was close.
