In a tournament where Gareth Southgate has been routinely criticised for his lacklustre in-game management, the England boss struck gold as his 80th minute double substitution inspired a 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in the semi-finals of Euro 2024.
With Wednesday night's tie on a knife edge at 1-1 and the Dutch having grown into an absorbing contest, Southgate called for Ollie Watkins and Cole Palmer. Off came Harry Kane whose 18th-minute penalty had cancelled out Xavi Simons' thunderous opener, and Phil Foden, who had been England's brightest player. It was a bold move by a coach often derided for a perceived reluctance to make proactive changes from the touchline.
And with the game lurching towards extra time, the alert Palmer spied Watkins speeding into space behind the Dutch defence and fed a perfectly weighted pass into his path. Watkins, the scorer of 27 goals for Aston Villa last season but largely confined to the bench in Germany, took a touch and rifled a low shot across Bart Verbruggen to take the Three Lions into Sunday's final against Spain in Berlin.
It will be England's second Euros final in a row having lost to Italy on home soil at Wembley three years ago, while they have also reached the semi-finals (2018) and quarter-finals (2022) of the World Cup under Southgate. Captain Kane was full of praise for the man who had replaced him, and looked forward to an "unbelievably tough" game against the impressive Spanish.
"History made. Amazing achievement. I'm so proud of everyone," Kane told ITV. "Every player, every member of staff, I'm so proud of them. To do what we've done away from home is really special. There's that feeling there's one more left and we need to do that.
"We talk about being ready. We're a big team at being ready. When it matters, you might get five minutes, one minute, but you can make a difference, you can win us a tournament. [Watkins] has been waiting, he's been patient. What he did was outstanding and he deserves it.
"Especially in the first half we had a lot of control. Second half there were a few tired legs out there. Overall I thought we deserved to win it.
"[Now we have] another unbelievably tough game. There's one more game to make history. That's what we're excited about. It's been a tough journey but there's one more – 90 minutes, 120, penalties, whatever it takes we'll be there. I'm looking forward to it."
It is rare for the England fans to be so heavily outnumbered at such a meaningful game but it was the Dutch who dominated the stands at Borussia Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park. An estimated 100,000 had flooded over the border into neighbouring Germany and Dortmund's famous Yellow Wall throbbed with orange for the night. It didn't take long for their team to reward them.
A ball was launched forward amid the early sparring and the retreating Marc Guehi's unconvincing header put Declan Rice in trouble. He dithered, slipped and was robbed by the aggressive Simons who surged into a pocket of space and sent a ferocious strike arrowing into the top corner.
England seem to have played their best football when behind in this tournament and that was once again the case here. Kane tested Verbruggen from range and then blazed over the bar after one of many dangerous weaving runs from Bukayo Saka.
But just as the Dutch breathed a sigh of relief, referee Felix Zwayer was called to the pitchside monitor for a VAR review. The footage showed a heavy challenge on Kane from Denzel Dumfries and the England captain duly converted the resulting spot kick. Harsh on the Dutch? Absolutely, but England were level and soon in the ascendancy.
Foden was next to spring into life as he danced through the Netherlands defence, a blur of hips and nimble footwork as he squeezed the ball through the legs of the beaten Verbruggen only to see his shot cleared off the line.
Dumfries then clipped the bar with a header from a corner won against the run of play, but almost immediately Foden raided forwards and sent a curling effort against the outside of Verbruggen's right-hand post from distance. Confidence was coursing through the Manchester City player and he soon tested the busy Dutch keeper with another low fizzing strike.
England were dominating the midfield battle so when Memphis Depay limped out of the action, it was telling that Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman called for central midfielder Joey Veerman to replace his stricken forward.
For England, Luke Shaw emerged to replace Kieran Trippier for a second half which started at a steadier tempo after the cut and thrust of the opening 45 minutes, with the rejigged Dutch midfield stemming the tide.
England needed a lift and, after Saka had seen a goal chalked off for offside, boss Southgate looked to regain the impetus by sending on Watkins and Palmer for Kane and Foden. The Dutch threatened on the break through a sub of their own – striker Wout Weghorst – who was blocked by Guehi as he attempted to finish off a flowing move.
But, just as extra time beckoned, the game's defining moment arrived when the subs combined and Palmer picked out Watkins who struck unerringly into the far corner of Verbruggen's net.
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