#头条首发大赛#
England will face Spain in Sunday's final after a dramatic 2-1 victory over Netherlands in the Euro 2024 semi-finals in Dortmund on Wednesday night.
It marks the Second consecutive European Championship final for the Three Lions, having not reached any final in 55 years, from the 1966 World Cup to Euro 2020. However, having lost to Italy on penalties at Wembley three years ago, Gareth · Southgate's side will be looking for a better performance.
Oli · Watkins was a surprise hero in the 90th minute with a cool winner who pressed the ball into the far corner of the net despite Stefan · De Vrigui's attention. Overall, this once again highlights the admirable resilience that England did not have before the Southgate era.
Netherlands took the lead within minutes as Harvey Simons picked up Declan · Rice's pocket in England's first half and rushed towards goal. Without being pressed fast enough, he shot ambitiously past Jordan · Pickford.
When Harry · Kane's shot was combined with Denzel · Dumfries, England were given an absolute VAR gift. It didn't look like a penalty in real-time or slow-motion replay, but referee Felix Zwayer was told to consult the pitcher's monitor and then point to the scene. Kane slotted home the bottom corner with great power, his record-breaking sixth goal in a European knockout round.
Those dressed in white and blue were rejuvenated after that, with Phil ·Foden's incredible shot stabbed towards the goal after passing through an orange defender was blocked by Dumfries on the touchline. At the other end, the Netherlands right-back hit the crossbar with a header from a corner, before Foden then curled the outside of the post in the style of Lamin · Yamal.
Netherlands came back in the second half when Jordan Pickford made a reflex save from Virgil · Van Dijk and the X-team attacked Gareth Southgate again. As time went on, Bukayo Saka sent the ball into the net but it was blocked by an offside flag. For the next 30 minutes, the draw looked set off until substitute Harry Kane came on with the crucial intervention of Ollie Watkins.
On Tuesday night, Spain secured a place in the final with a 2-1 win over France in the first semifinal. Yamal, arguably arguably the best-played 16-year-old of all time, scored an absolutely brilliant goal to help La Roja reach their first final since winning Euro 2012 more than a decade ago.
Luis · de la Fuente's side have shown themselves to be a team to beat throughout the game. The final at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin will start on Sunday 14 July at 8pm (United Kingdom Daylight Time).