England now deserves to be favorites to win Euro 2020 (Euro 2021) after eliminating Germany in the round of 16 at Wembley Stadium, Tuesday (29/6).
Before Euro 2020 started, the betting market placed England in second place behind France as potential winners of this tournament.
Seeing the composition of players who are filled with a row of stars and inhabit a number of big European clubs, The Three Lions deserve to be the superior team.
England’s performance at the start of Euro 2020 actually did not match expectations, referring to the material they have. Against Croatia, England were only slightly lucky after Raheem Sterling scored the only goal.
Public concerns about England’s immature appearance were increasingly evident after being matched by Scotland without a goal in the second match in Group D.
After against Scotland, England’s chances of surviving or being eliminated at Euro 2020 are the same as 50 percent. If they lose against the Czech Republic in the last match, they can be in the top three and calculate the chances with third place from the other groups.
Even though they finally won over the Czechs and qualified as group winners, signs that England would still be ‘asleep’ in major tournaments still loomed. Moreover, England escaped only by scoring two goals even though their defense was quite solid because they had not conceded.
Since winning the 1966 World Cup, England have never again lifted the trophy. In fact, in every championship, England is always considered to have qualified material and deserves to be a champion.
However, fate on the field when the tournament was held said otherwise. England is still a lion who still sleeps with his dreams.
In fact, at Euro 1996 when it became the host, England also could not do much. They lost on penalties to Germany at Wembley. The cause of the defeat was Gareth Southgate, the current England coach after his penalty was saved by Andreas Kopke.
However, England managed to dismiss those doubts in the meeting against Germany at Euro 2020 which became the third duel for the two teams in the European Cup. England showed they didn’t want to keep dreaming.
The performance of Declan Rice and his friends against Germany in the round of 16 was much different from the three matches in the group phase.
The back line looks pretty solid. The sector is playing disciplined and quite dominating the game. If there is a sector that is still troubling, it is Harry Kane’s unrivaled performance
Through an effective and efficient game in exploiting gaps in the Die Mannschaft defense, England managed to win 2-0 through goals from Sterling and Kane. England also qualified for the quarter-finals of Euro 2020.
Many people may think Germany deserved to lose because they were bad at Euro 2020. However, for England, Germany was still Germany. A giant team with stars, world champions and three-time Euro champions.
Beating Germany will certainly be a motivation for Kyle Walker and his friends in the quarter-finals later.
Now England has woken up from its long slumber. They can also bounce back from a nightmare after being knocked out by Germany at Euro 1996 at their own home.
What is exciting is that England is now the champion after a number of candidates such as France, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Germany fell in the round of 16.
England’s qualification to the quarter-finals of Euro 2020 was none other than the success of Gareth Southgate’s gambling against Germany.
Southgate not only changed the composition of the starter, but also the playing scheme. In three matches in the group phase, the 50-year-old coach has always played with four defenders.
However, against Germany, Southgate played three defenders. Jack Grealish, who started the match against the Czech Republic, was back on the bench.
With three defenders, England’s attack was so intensive to the German defense. Wingback Kieran Trippier and Luke Shaw were able to do their job as they should, going forward on the ball and coming down third on attack.
England had a hard time with Germany attack at the beginning of the match. But since the middle of the first half, the match was given by the Three Lions.
The hosts could have taken the lead before half-time if Harry Kane could capitalize on Thomas Muller’s blunder at the end of the first half. Unfortunately, the Tottenham Hotspur striker failed to control the ball well so it could be saved by Mats Hummels.
The solidity of England’s game made Germany, who was so powerful against Portugal in the group phase, dizzy.
England’s attack became more widespread in the second half, precisely after Jack Grealish entered in the 69th minute to replace Bukayo Saka. The entry of Grealish made Sterling move into position as a right wing striker.
Southgate realized, England needed players with other characters to penetrate the German defense. The reason is, Sterling and Saka, who are typical fast wingers, have difficulty dismantling Germany back line with the skill and speed they have.
Because of that, a combination of games through quick short passes is needed in order to penetrate the Die Mannschaft penalty box. This tactic has proven to be effective.
Starting from Sterling, Kane then gave the ball to Grealish which was then passed to Luke Shaw so that it became a mature pass which was completed by Sterling in the 75th minute.
In the 86th minute, it was Grealish’s turn to provide the bait for Kane’s header. Grealish was an England game changer that Southgate played at just the right time.
