On July 1, Beijing time, in the 1/8 finals of the European Cup, England defeated Slovakia 2-1 in extra time and successfully advanced to the top 8. In the next quarter-finals, England will face Switzerland, who eliminated Italy.
In this game, the England team won very dangerously. In the 25th minute, Slovakia led England 1-0 through Schlandz's goal. England had been behind in regulation time, with manager Gareth Southgate only bringing on Palmer and Eze, and was not in a hurry to make a third substitution.
Until the 94th minute of the game, England were still down 1-0, and this is when Southgate finally made a move. He replaced the underdog Foden with high school striker Ivan Toney, leaving him with less than two minutes to perform.
At this point, England had a succession of touchline chances, and Walker's powerful hand tossed the ball to find Ivan Toney in the box. His header was deflected off to Jude Bellingham's barbed equaliser to help England draw 1-1.
Heading into extra-time, Ivan Toney once again showed his role as a bridgehead. In the first minute of extra time, Toney drew a foul to win a free-kick for England. Eze swept the ball in front of goal from outside the box, Ivan Toney headed in again, and Kane headed home to help England take a 2-1 lead and eventually win the game to progress to the last eight of the European Championships.
England's win was attributed to Jude Bellingham, who scored the equaliser, Harry Kane, who scored the winning goal, but let's not forget Ivan Toney, who came off the bench twice to provide two assists with his header. The 1.87-meter-tall striker played a good role as a bridgehead and became a major contributor to the England team's comeback and promotion.
It is worth mentioning that Ivan Toney did not get a chance to play in the three group games. In the critical moment of the knockout round, Southgate replaced Mr. Tony, and he really played the role of a surprise soldier. Some fans quipped: "After analyzing the various problems in England, it turns out that the biggest problem is the formation. Ivan Toney partnered with Kane as a two-man striker, and England switched to 442. ”
In the Premier League, Ivan Toney has always been the representative of the civilian striker. Before the 21-22 season, he was almost perennially in the lower leagues such as League Two, League One and the Championship. In the 22-23 season, Ivan Toney played for Brentford in the Premier League, scoring 20 goals in a single season, second only to Haaland and Harry Kane in terms of goals.
However, Ivan Toney also went astray after becoming famous. In May last year, the FA officially announced that Ivan Toney had been banned for eight months for breaching the BO ban and would be fined £50,000. It turned out that between February 25, 2017 and January 23, 2021, Ivan Tony had repeatedly violated the rules by betting on matches, and was eventually banned for 8 months, and in January this year, Ivan Tony regained his "freedom".
In half a season in the Premier League, Ivan Toney played just 17 games, scoring four goals and providing two assists. His performance wasn't particularly impressive, but Southgate opted to take him with him. Tonight, Ivan Toney repaid Southgate's trust with his performance, and at the same time staged a good show of "the prodigal son does not change money"!