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Half of the ship is sunk and you can escape! Southgate at the tournament may be more metaphysical than Zizou?

author:86 Sports Shu Fan's sister
Half of the ship is sunk and you can escape! Southgate at the tournament may be more metaphysical than Zizou?

Remember Iceland. Remember the pain, remember the shame, remember the fear of the ball as a whole England team. Remember the resignation of the manager, remember the end of the era, remember that this was the worst moment in the history of the English men's team. Remember the complacent pre-race and the post-race shame.

Now, keep all that in mind and then turn to yesterday's game, which could also go down in English football history.

In the match against Slovakia, England saved themselves in a shocking way. As long as the opponent holds out for a minute or so, Southgate will have his own 'Icelandic moment'. If that's the case, there's bound to be a lot of trouble.

Then, Bellingham scored and Harry Kane scored to send England to the quarter-finals. Imagine sitting down to watch Titanic, thinking you already knew the ending, only to see a superhero save the sinking ship, and Jack and Rose live happily ever after.

After a night that no one will forget, the Gazball inexplicably continued to sail for the following weekend. Finally, the England players danced Sweet Caroline in front of the fans, and Southgate accepted the applause of the crowd, knowing surely he was close to a tearful press conference, a painful resignation and the next flight home.

Half of the ship is sunk and you can escape! Southgate at the tournament may be more metaphysical than Zizou?

Regardless of the outcome of Saturday's game against Switzerland, everyone here will never forget those eight minutes, starting with Jude Bellingham's barbed goal, it was a bolt of lightning in the clear sky, it was the goal that saved the game, the goal that saved the manager, the goal that turned Iceland back to a very different end. After a frenzied celebration and a joyful relief, eight minutes later, England continued to press back in front of their own fans, and Kane took the lead out.

The fans were ready to boo the players and the manager all the way from Germany to Germany. They were ecstatic and hugged each other and wept. England were brave and tenacious in extra-time, united and doing everything they could to keep their efforts from going to waste.

For most of this game, the fate of the England team was inevitable. They are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the "Icelandic moment". It would be the "perfect" end to Southgate's era, repeating the lows of his first time in office. The first time was a tragedy, the second was a farce. In the last eight years, English football has experienced two disasters, one in the quarter-finals of the European Championship and the other in the underdogs. The inevitable uniformity was dizzying, and the England players were stunned and had no choice but to knowingly drive back into the iceberg.

Southgate sat on the stage smiling at his post-match press conference and spoke of his excitement and said he was proud of his team for holding out until the end of extra-time. He also discussed Luke Shaw's physical condition and the tactical challenges of the game against Switzerland, all of which felt unreal. However, despite the joy and relief of the England fans, despite the happy memories and travel plans to Dusseldorf, they could not forget the vast majority of the reality they saw last night.

Half of the ship is sunk and you can escape! Southgate at the tournament may be more metaphysical than Zizou?

Because no matter how much England went above and beyond in the final moments, their performance was largely frustrating. Before Bellingham stepped up, England were just as bad as they had been at the entire European Championships, and even worse than they had been against Denmark and Slovenia.

Let's not forget that while England dominated possession throughout the game, Bellingham's inverted hook was their first shot on target of the game. England's poor form at Gelsenkirchen has been laid bare over the past two weeks.

England still couldn't hold the ball and struggled to break through Slovakia's press. The vivid image of an England player being chased by an opposing player while in possession of the ball and flicking his head angrily and blaming his team-mate for not running when he saw that there was no connecting point in front of him. It was the look on the face of a man who didn't want the ball in the first place, who felt betrayed and had to take it, even if it was only for a few painful seconds. His only options are to step back, or just give the ball to the opponent, or yell at his teammates, or all of the above.

Once again, England had no real point on the ball, and there were no people around Kane and up front who could rush forward. Their only point on the ball was a 33-year-old right-back who fought fiercely down the left, but that wasn't his strong suit. Once again, England struggled to penetrate their opponents quickly if necessary.

Half of the ship is sunk and you can escape! Southgate at the tournament may be more metaphysical than Zizou?

The biggest difference between this game and the group stage is that England's defence is no longer solid, and when Slovakia are fast attacking, England always look panicked. They were fragile from the start and England seemed to be in a state of panic when Schlandz scored a solo goal.

Before the game, the big question was: Is England just underperforming or is it fatally flawed? Is the Gazball really sinking? Will Southgate make the necessary changes to fix it.

The answer is no, and he will only make one change, which is to bring on Menu, who at least wants the ball in midfield. Yes, England were deeply flawed, still unbalanced, still shaky in possession and struggled to create chances even when they were dominant. All the problems of this England team have not been solved.

However, despite all the evidence telling us that the ship should have sunk, in fact, it was heading to Düsseldorf for Saturday's quarter-finals. They at least avoided the iceberg of the historic level.