At 0:00 a.m. Beijing time on July 1, in the 1/8 finals of the European Cup, England finally equalized at the last moment of regular time (95th minute) with Bellingham's barb goal when they were behind in most of the regular time. In the first minute of extra time, relying on Harry Kane's goal, England finally eliminated Slovakia 2-1 and advanced to the last 8. In the next quarter-finals, England will face Switzerland, who eliminated Italy.
Southgate's last-minute substitutions worked wonders in this game. In the 94th minute, he replaced the lackluster Foden with Ivan Toney, which was the key to England's comeback. Ivan Toney had just come on when England were awarded a throw-in. Guehi's header set up Bellingham to hook up the golden hook to help England equalise 1-1.
Heading into extra time, Ivan Toney became the protagonist on the field. In the first minute of extra time, Ivan Toney drew a foul and won England a free-kick on the right side of the box. After the ball was sent into the box, it was knocked out of the box by the goalkeeper, and Ize, who was outside the box, volleyed and kicked the ball exactly in front of Ivan Toney. The 1.87m Ivan Toney headed in front of goal, and Kane easily headed home to help England win 2-1 against Slovakia.
In this game, Ivan Toney played 32 minutes off the bench, but he was full of presence and aggression on the field. Post-match statistics show that Ivan Toni's duels success rate is 80% (4/5), aerial duel success rate is 80% (4/5), 1 great chance created and 1 assist. In addition, Ivan Tony also made three fouls against opponents.
Speaking after the game, Southgate said: "I could see the unhappiness on his [Tony's] face and I could understand that; When I put him on the last minute, any player would think: 'I've been on the bench for so long and you didn't put me on the pitch.' But I said, maybe there will come a moment when you'll be a hero. I have a feeling that he might create some chaos on the pitch. And his header was so wonderful. I think he's forgiven me by now. ”
In fact, Ivan Tony would not be angry with Southgate at all, it was Southgate who had been supporting him. You must know that just half a year ago, Ivan Tony was still squatting in the "ball monitor". In May last year, he was banned by the FA for eight months and fined £50,000 for gambling. That saw him miss most of last season's Premier League games, playing just 17 games, scoring four goals and providing two assists. Such a performance is not particularly outstanding in England, which is full of talent, but Southgate still chose to take him, which is enough to show the trust in him.
Now, Ivan Tony contributed a key assist in the extra-time stage of the European Championship knockout round to help England reverse the elimination of Slovakia, and he can be regarded as completing the redemption and staging a good show of "the prodigal son does not change money".