DPA
Gelsenkirchen (Germany)
England are into the Euro 2024 quarter-finals after Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane came to the rescue in a dramatic 2-1 comeback win against Slovakia on Sunday.
Bellingham’s overhead kick in the fifth minute of added time cancelled out Ivan Schranz’s opener to take the game to extra time.
And within the first minute, Kane headed in England’s winner.
“You’re 30 seconds away from going home, feeling like you’ve let your nation down, and one kick of the ball and everything’s great. It’s a feeling I don’t want to be in, but when it comes, it’s a great feeling,” Man of the Match Bellingham said.
Slovakia dominated the game in the first half, but got too comfortable after the break, giving England the space they needed to pressure and eventually find a goal.
Slovakia were the Euro 1976 winners as part of then Czechoslovakia, but were looking to advance to the quarter-finals for the first time as an independent nation.
“I feel proud, we played a great game against a world-class team and one of the favourites. We allowed England very little, we almost advanced. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it. In extra time, we spent half the time in our opponents’ half. I am very proud of my team,” coach Francesco Calzona said.
England, the Euro 2020 runners-up, will now face Switzerland in Dusseldorf on July 6 after the Swiss knocked-out defending champions Italy 2-0 on Saturday.
“We know we’ll do whatever it takes. If it’s another game like this in the quarter-finals, so be it. This team knows how to dig deep and we’ve done that today,” Kane said.
England will be without defender Marc Guéhi, who will be suspended after receiving a yellow card early in the match.
The Three Lions are seeking their maiden European title, with their only major trophy being the 1966 World Cup.
Harmless England falls behind in first half Slovakia took the reins of the game from the very start and had the first chance in the fifth minute as Dávid Hancko narrowly missed the target with keeper Jordan Pickford already beaten.
Luká? Haraslín had his shot blocked by Marc Guéhi in the 12th, but the ball was loose in the box and went past Pickford. Luckily for England, Kieran Trippier reached it before Schranz had the chance to shoot.
But when he had his chance, Schranz didn’t miss it. David Strelec fed the ball through for the forward, who was followed by Guéhi, but still found space to poke the opener into the net.
After the break, Phil Foden thought he had the equalizer in the 50th, but the goal was disallowed for offside before there was a scary moment for England.
Strelec took advantage of a mix-up in the England midfield and saw Pickford off his line. He fired the ball goalwards and for a second, it looked he had score. To England’s relief, however, the ball bounced narrowly wide right.
Reckless Slovakia punished with late Bellingham’s stunner Coach Francesco Calzona’s side slowed down their pace and got too comfortable after half-time, which gave England spaces to pressure.
In the 78th, Kane found himself free in front of the goal, but headed wide off a free-kick.
England went very close the 81st when Declan Rice’s shot from distance hit the post and Kane’s acrobatic effort on the rebound went over.
But the Three Lions were rewarded for their late pressure and took the game to extra-time after long throw-in was flicked on and Bellingham pulled off a stunning overhead kick that bounced into the net in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
Slovakia’s punishment was concluded when in one of the first actions in extra time, Kane headed in Ivan Toney’s cross to complete England’s comeback.
Slovakia had the chance for the equalizer in the 105th, but Peter Pekarík only fired the ball over from close range as his side melancholically said goodbye to their chances of coming through.
Schranz, who scored the winner in the first group match against Belgium, said his side might regret this game “for the rest of our lives.” “It’s my third goal of the tournament, but so what? It could have been beautiful, great, but we lost out at the last moment. We have nothing to be angry about, we’ll deal with it.
“But maybe we’ll regret it for the rest of our lives. We may not get another chance like this to write history,” he said.
Kane equals Griezmann’s milestone By scoring England’s winner, Kane equalled France’s Antoine Griezmann as the player with most goals (five) in Euros knock-out matches.
“That’s the desire and attitude from the boys and staff and everyone involved. It looked tough for a second there but we kept going,” the Bayern Munich striker said.
He also praised team-mate Bellingham: “Jude does what Jude does, it was an unbelievable goal and it kept our tournament alive.
“I think it’s one of the best (goals) in our country’s history. What a player he is. He works so hard for the team.”
