England and the Netherlands, the two favourites who have been on the better side of the Euro 2019 draw, will play their way to the final this Wednesday (9pm, TVE1) in Dortmund. Both have gone through difficult moments that could have left them out of the competition. At the same time, both Gareth Southgate and Ronald Koeman have been heavily criticised, especially the Englishman, for the football their teams have played. Both coaches have taken refuge in results rather than in the game.
England, who have had to come from behind in both ties, struggled to see off Slovakia in the last 16. First, Jude Bellingham rescued them with a terrific overhead kick in the 95th minute to force extra time and avoid what could have been the biggest humiliation and the biggest debacle of the tournament. Then it was Kane who showed his instinct to score in the first minute of extra time. Against Switzerland, England’s game barely raised its level. The penalties, after overturning Embolo’s goal, allowed the criticised Southgate and his players to meet the Netherlands tonight. The English coach and his players maintain that, despite the poor play, the difficulties they have gone through have put them to the test as a group. “The special thing has been the way in which these 26 players have come together during these weeks. There are many new players and half of them have no experience in major tournaments,” said England captain Harry Kane. “We have a great chance to reach the final,” continued the Bayern Munich striker.
With two goals in the tournament, but isolated and disconnected due to the lack of football, Kane was also questioned about his position and whether he is affected by the movements made by Foden and Bellingham to occupy the centre. “I know the movements I have to make, sometimes I stay in the area and other times I go to places where I think the opposing centre-backs will not be comfortable.”
If Southgate is blamed for poor play, Ronald Koeman is reminded that to reach the semi-finals he has not had to face any of the big favourites. “That doesn’t matter, we have also seen the difficulties that the favourites have had to overcome in beating the weaker teams,” said Koeman after eliminating Turkey in the quarter-finals after coming back from the goal with which the Turks went into the break. Koeman also speaks of resilience in the face of the problems they have had to overcome. The first of them is the harsh criticism of his player Veerman
He was unable to appear before the press yesterday due to the blockage of trains between Wolfsburg, where the Dutch have their headquarters, and Dortmund. The problems with the German railway network, which have caused so many delays for fans and journalists, have ended up directly affecting the organisation of the tournament and its participants. The Dutch team had to travel by plane. “I don’t think it will be an inconvenience that will harm them. The match is tomorrow.” [por hoy] at nine o’clock at night. There is plenty of time,” Southgate said ironically.
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