Culture Corner

On Wednesday night, England took on, and defeated, The Netherlands to advance to the finals of the European Championships, defeating them 2-1 within the 90 minutes.

After a rocky group stages, with only 1 win and 2 draws, England are set to face Spain in the finals on Sunday night. Gareth Southgate stuck to his previously successful formation of 3-2-4-1, which proved effective against the Dutch.

After 7 minutes, England found themselves down 1-0, due to an excellent finish from Paris Saint Germain midfielder, Xavi Simons. Jordan Pickford struggled to make a convincing effort to save the shot from Simons, crushing England’s spirits and propelling the Dutch towards the final. However, the Brits were quick to answer, only 11 minutes later, with a controversial penalty, scored by England’s captain, and star striker, Harry Kane. The penalty has been the topic of conversation since the game, with some fans in utter disbelief at the decision from German referee, Felix Zwayer. In 2006, Zwayer had previously been banned from refereeing, after working alongside Robert Hoyzer as an assistant referee, who had been involved in a large match-fixing scandal. This, quite understandably, put a lot of eyes on Zwayer before the game had even started, and has brought about a lot of anger from not only Dutch fans, but football fans worldwide.

Since the change of formation, Manchester City’s Phil Foden has had much more convincing performances, and was a clear threat going forward. Unfortunately, Foden did not manage to convert for the Lions, however he came close after a shot was cleared off the line by defender Denzel Dumfries, and hitting the post, both in the first half. Southgate’s decision to play him through the centre as more of an attacking midfielder, rather than a winger, has helped the recent Premier League champion to provide much more of an impact for his nation.

In the 81st minute, Kane was replaced by Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins; the 28 year old had only clocked 20 minutes against Denmark in this years European Championships, which didn’t stopped him from sending England into the final round. After 9 minutes on the pitch, Watkins blasted a shot into the bottom left corner to seal the deal.

England had looked like the stronger team all game, and provided a much better performance than previously, however, they are set to face Spain in the finals, which will be no easy feat. The Spanish have definitely been the best team offensively in the tournament so far, winning every game within 90 minutes. 16 year old superstar, Lamine Yamal, has certainly been a talking point in regards to the Spanish team, who scored an extraordinary goal against France in the semi-finals to help propel his nation into the finals.

Do England have it in them to win against the Spaniards? Everything will be decided on Sunday night in Berlin.