- Listen to It’s all just beginning! EUROS DAILY: The war cry of English fans: why it is time to support Gareth Southgate
- England came back to beat Slovakia 2-1 on Sunday in Gelsenkirchen
- The Three Lions advanced to the quarterfinals in dramatic circumstances
The manner of England’s dramatic win over Slovakia on Sunday did nothing to assuage criticism from Gary Neville, who has branded their performances at Euro 2024 so far “woeful”.
Gareth Southgate’s side were spared the embarrassment of a last-16 exit in Gelsenkirchen thanks to Jude Bellingham’s stunning 95th-minute overhead kick before Harry Kane scored the winner seconds into extra time.
Despite the victory ensuring the team could still claim the country’s first European crown, Neville was not to get caught up in the emotion and suggested Southgate had been lucky to escape a defeat that would almost certainly have ended his reign as England boss.
“England have played very poorly in the last four games,” he said on ITV after the game. “We all know Southgate in the studio. He’s a great guy, obviously he has enormous integrity, but tonight he will realize that he was very close to the edge. Very close to the edge.”
He added: ‘Sweet Caroline doesn’t sound very sweet. Relief is the word of the day. We have been very, very lucky and we must thank our lucky stars because we were miserable and had four miserable games.
Gary Neville suggested Gareth Southgate was lucky and insisted England have been “woeful” in their four Euro 2024 exits
Harry Kane scored the winner in the first minute of extra time to complete England’s dramatic comeback.
Southgate’s reign as England manager looked to be coming to an end before late goals from Jude Bellingham (right) and Kane saved the Three Lions from blushes.
“Even in extra time we didn’t play well and Slovakia were unlucky in the end. We have to change something radically and Gareth will realize tonight that he was very close to the abyss.”
England fell behind to Slovakia, who took a deserved lead through Ivan Schranz.
Jude Bellingham equalized with a magnificent bicycle kick at the end of normal time before Harry Kane scored the winning goal at the start of extra time.
Many of England’s performances at Euro 2024 so far have been disappointing, but they are already in the quarter-finals, where they will face Switzerland.
Neville’s assessment was echoed by fellow ITV pundit Ian Wright, who admitted it is very difficult to feel confident about the team moving forward.
“It’s very difficult to look at England and feel confident going forward,” Wright said. “But we’ve just shown that we have two players who can put out fires.”
There were scenes of fury as the final whistle blew, with footage showing Slovak coach Francesco Calzona pushing England midfielder Declan Rice.
Rice was left furious by the incident and had to be restrained by teammates Ivan Toney and Ezri Konsa.
There were scenes of fury after the final whistle, with footage showing Slovakia coach Francesco Calzona pushing Declan Rice (left).
Rice called Calzona a “bald piece of shit” at the end of the game.
As revealed by lip reader Jeremy Freeman, an angry Rice said: “Shut up, fuck, hey, shut up, baldy.”
