June 29, (THEWILL) – Gareth Southgate proved himself worthy of the confidence reposed in him by Mark Bullingham, Chief Executive of the English Football Association and the FA as a whole by leading the Three Lions to a historic 2-0 shredding of arch-European rivals Germany at the Round of 16 stage of the ongoing Euro 2020 competition.
England has thus advanced to Rome for a quarter-final against the winner of Sweden and the Ukraine later in Tuesday’s second fixture.
It is a remarkable victory that England will not forget in a hurry.
The win takes England through to the quarter-finals even though Germany maintained control of the game for the majority of a tight first half and created an opening opportunity for Chelsea’s Timo Werner that was well saved by Jordan Pickford, in goal for England.
It was in the late moments of the first 45 minutes that the Three Lions found a foothold. Their improvement led to a chance for captain Harry Kane to give England the lead but Mats Hummels was there to keep the game goalless after Kane had rounded off German keeper Manuel Neuer.
The game remained a tough encounter in the second period. Chances came and went until 13 minutes of regulation time left that Manchester City forward, Raheem Sterling, who had been impressive in the competition so far, started and finished the move that broke the deadlock.
Bayern Munich’s striker Thomas Muller then missed a glorious chance to equalise when he dragged his finish wide of England’s net. That prolificacy was to the advantage of the Three Lions as Kane stooped to head in the clinching goal in the dying minutes to send football fans in England into euphoria.
For Joachim Löw, it brings his 15-year managerial position with Die Mannschaft to a forgettable close while Germany, who drop out of the Euros before the semi-final stage for the first time in three tournaments, will begin the next phase of their World Cup qualifiers against Liechtenstein in September under Hansi Flick.
