So maybe now you’ll believe in him.
Maybe now, before it’s too late, you’ll say that maybe you were wrong about Gareth Southgate.
Maybe now that he has led England to two consecutive Euro finals, you will admit what he has done for football in this country.
Maybe now is the time to stop throwing beer glasses at him, ridiculing him and making him a stranger in his own land.
Because in this cathedral of football at the heart of German football, Southgate delivered a coaching masterclass on one of the biggest nights of his career.
Ollie Watkins scored the 90th-minute winner to send England into the Euro 2024 final
England’s substitutes ran onto the pitch to celebrate with their goalscoring hero
Gareth Southgate has been criticised, but he made the right substitutions and now fans have to start believing in him.
And in the end, an English coach and an English team that have refused to conform to the beloved national model of heroic failure overcame the Netherlands and advanced to the European Championship final against Spain in Berlin on Sunday.
England again held on until the end, drawing on the resilience Southgate has instilled in them to score a brilliant last-minute winner through Ollie Watkins, giving England a 2-1 victory and breaking the hearts of the Dutch.
Southgate had started his captain and talisman Harry Kane when many had said he should be dropped, and Kane rewarded him by winning a first-half penalty and scoring after the Dutch had taken an early lead through Xavi Simons.
The Dutch and their coach Ronald Koeman were outplayed by Southgate and spent much of the match reacting to his changes.
And when Kane tired late in the game, Southgate turned to Watkins and took the captain off. And Watkins returned the favour in spades.
So England are up against a very talented Spanish team, including 16-year-old Lamine Yamal. Spain will be the favourites. England will not be worried about this. This is not England. Not the dear old England.
This victory means England will contest their first ever major final on foreign soil. Maybe now, at last, we can put aside all this rubbish about England winning despite Southgate, not because of him. This was their victory. This was their victory all night long.
Southgate had made only one change from the team that beat Switzerland in the quarter-finals: he brought back Marc Guehi from suspension to replace Ezri Konsa. UEFA also kept its selection.
European football’s governing body has refused to heed calls to replace German referee Felix Zwayer because he has long been involved in a match-fixing scandal and, more recently, had been criticised by Jude Bellingham when Bellingham was playing for Borussia Dortmund against Bayern Munich.
Harry Kane equalised for England from the penalty spot after being fouled inside the area
The England captain made Euro history by scoring more knockout goals than any other player in the competition.
England started off strong and well, something that has not been written about much in this tournament. Holland was up to the task and within seven minutes had already taken the lead.
Xavi Simons stole the ball from Declan Rice at the back of the England half, took a couple of steps forward and then fired a right-footed shot from 25 yards that beat Jordan Pickford for pace and venom. The ball was still in the ascendancy when it snuck into the back of the net.
England were quick to seek an equaliser. Jude Bellingham’s headers were abruptly interrupted by Jerdy Schouten’s inadvertent header, Kane forced Bart Verbruggen into a fine save with a low shot and Kane sent the ball over the bar.
As he took the shot, Kane was brought down by a high foul from Denzel Dumfries which VAR deemed “reckless” and Zwayer awarded a penalty. England have a host of nerveless penalty takers these days, but Kane remains the father of them all. He took it and sent it low into the corner.
England thought they had taken the lead midway through the first half when Foden brilliantly weaved his way through the ranks of Dutch defenders and into the six-yard box. It was almost the first time in the tournament that we have seen his quick feet dance as he slotted the ball through Verbruggen’s legs. The England fans behind goal thought it had gone in, but Dumfries stopped it on the goal line.
Xavi Simons had put the Netherlands ahead after seven minutes with a great shot from distance.
Simons celebrated his first goal of the tournament against the ‘Orange Wall’
While England’s previous games had largely been dull, this one was explosive. Dumfries headed a powerful ball in off the English crossbar from a corner, Foden unleashed a beautiful left-footed shot past Verbruggen but watched in despair as the ball crashed off the outside of the post.
England were playing superbly, Kobbie Mainoo was the best player on the pitch, breaking up any sign of Dutch momentum, moving the ball with speed and precision and generally dominating the midfield. Foden stepped up. Kane looked like a totally different player. Saka played almost as well as he had against the Swiss, which was a very high bar.
Both managers made changes at half-time. Southgate changed play and brought on Luke Shaw in place of the formidable Kieran Trippier, while Koeman brought on Wout Weghorst, a fine centre-forward and an even better agent provocateur.
The Netherlands had been outplayed in the first half and knew it. They turned the second half into a war of attrition, keeping England at bay, working their way into the game and making England wish they had scored again when they had the lead.
The Dutch gave England a scare midway through the first half when Virgil van Dijk forced his way onto the end of a free-kick that landed awkwardly on the edge of the six-yard box. Van Dijk was unable to get any power out of his shot but Pickford had to dive smartly to his left to clear it.
Bellingham was booked for a foul on Stefan de Vrij that wasn’t so much a foul as a good old-fashioned 50-50. Both players slid in, neither backed down, both could have been hurt, but neither was. Bellingham glared at his old friend in black.
Phil Foden came very close to giving England the lead at 1-1 but his shot was cleared off the line.
Foden also had a shot graze the outside post in the first half as England looked to score.
But Watkins came through in the end, and England now look ahead to the final against Spain on Sunday.
It seemed as though the game was turning the tide and the Dutch had regained their composure and confidence, while England were sinking into one of their worst habits: playing defensively.
The game was crying out for Southgate to make a change. Fifteen minutes from time, England got lucky and the ball fell to Simons 12 yards from goal. If Simons had finished as accurately as his goal, the Dutch would have been ahead, but he missed his volley.
England thought they had taken the lead when Saka turned in Walker’s cross, but Walker was found to be offside. Southgate then made the changes. Kane, who had tired, was replaced by Ollie Watkins. Cole Palmer replaced Foden.
Palmer fired high and wide and then, just as the clock ticked over to 90 minutes, Watkins received Palmer’s pass with his back to goal, smoothly turned his man and fired that brilliant low shot past Verbruggen’s desperate dive and in off the far post.
