'Winning is the best!' England's sweet potato went to the semifinals and won against Switzerland after a penalty shootout...the semifinals against the Netherlands

Jul 07, 2024

England succeeded in advancing to the semifinals despite its poor performance. England won the Euro 2024 quarterfinals against Switzerland 5-3 after a penalty shootout after finishing 120 minutes 1-1 at Espri Arena in Düsseldorf, Germany on the 7th (Korea time). England reached the semi-finals for the second consecutive tournament following the last tournament. England were the strongest contenders for this tournament. The sports statistics website 'Opta' used a supercomputer to simulate the tournament, with England ranking first with a 19.9% chance of winning. After England, France (19.1%) followed by Germany (12.4%) as the host country. On various betting sites, England is considered the number one chance of winning the championship.

Photo capture = Euro 2024 SNS

England succeeded in advancing to the semifinals despite their poor performance.

England won the Euro 2024 quarterfinals against Switzerland 5-3 after a penalty shootout after finishing 120 minutes 1-1 at Espri Arena in Düsseldorf, Germany on the 7th (Korea time). England reached the semi-finals for the second consecutive tournament following the last tournament. England were the strongest contenders for this tournament. The sports statistics website 'Opta' used a supercomputer to simulate the tournament, with England ranking first with a 19.9% chance of winning. After England, France (19.1%) followed by Germany (12.4%) as the host country. On various betting sites, England is considered the number one chance of winning the championship.

England has not been able to win this tournament so far that it has participated in the Euro tournament 15 times and has advanced to the final once. He also won the best runner-up at Euro 2020, the previous competition. England, which is made up of ultra-luxury members, will try to win the tournament for the first time. The so-called front six players, including Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice, took the lead.

However, even after advancing to the quarterfinals, he was criticized a lot for his sweet potato performance. Following a 1-0 win over Serbia in the first group stage, the team drew 1-1 against Denmark in the second and 0-0 against Slovenia in the third. England, which advanced to the round of 16, is next up against Slovakia. England were dragged around in the 25th minute, allowing the first goal. England, who managed to lead the match into extra time with a fantastic bicycle kick from Bellingham in the second half, struggled to reach the quarterfinals due to Kane's comeback goal in extra time. He also had a difficult game in the quarterfinals, but he won and continued his challenge to win the championship. England will decide their place in the final against the Netherlands, which beat Turkiye 2-1.

England launched a 3-4-2-1 formation. Due to a series of injuries to side resources, he switched from four-back to three-back. Kane was on the front line, while Bellingham and Foden were on the second line. Saka stepped up as a left wing-back as expected, and Kieran Trippier was on the right. Rice and Kobe Meino were kept in the midfield. Ezri Konsa, John Stones and Kyle Walker made three backs. Jordan Pickford wore goalkeeper gloves.

Switzerland faced off in the same formation. Brill Embro was one-top, while Ruben Vargas and Fabian Leader stood as attacking midfielders. Michelle Abyshire, Granit Xhaka, Remo Freiler, and Dan Ndoye were in the waistline. Hicciardo Rodriguez, Manuel Akanji and Fabian Shea made up the three-back. Jan Zimmer defended the goal.

At the beginning of the game, there was a fierce battle of wit. Both teams played carefully. England opened the door first. Rice and Mainu shot strongly in the 14th and 16th minutes of the first half. He came out after facing the defense. Switzerland faced off with a counterattack after building a defensive wall. England led the game but did not have a decisive chance.

Kane hit a corner kick from Trippier in the 22nd minute. It was off the goal. A frustrating trend continued. The defense of both teams was strong. England saw an opportunity with Saka and Mainu's breakthrough, but failed to create a good shot opportunity. In the end, the first half ended 0-0.

Switzerland was aggressive at the start of the second half. In the 6th minute of the second half, Embolo, who received Freiler's pass, fired a powerful shot in the box. Pickford saved it. In the 12th minute, Embolo tried a header. He was blocked by the defense. Switzerland has made a difference. In the 18th minute, Vargas and the leader were removed, and Sylvan Vidmer and Steven Zuber were put in to speed up the attack. In the 21st minute, Abisher fired a shot.

In the end, Switzerland scored the first goal. 30 min Ndoi attempted a low, fast cross from the right. Embolo finished by jumping in. It was Embolo's second goal of the tournament.

A panicked England changed three players after losing a point. Excluding Konsa, Trippier, and Mainu, I put Luke Shaw, Eberechi Eze, and Cole Palmer. It was a winning move to switch to a four-back and aggressively aim for the equalizer. It came to fruition in the end. 35 min The Arsenal duo shone. Saka connected Rice's pass with a sharp shot. This shot was sucked into the Swiss goal.

England, which gained momentum with the equalizer, aimed for the winning goal at the end of the second half by Kane and Eze. However, he failed to score. In the end, the game went to extra time.

England also took the lead in overtime. Rice's powerful mid-range shot in the first five minutes of extra time was saved by goalkeeper Zommer. Switzerland also fought back, but England's momentum was great. 12 min Bellingham tried to turn the tables with a shot, but it took a bit more.

Both teams played their final game. We've changed the front line. England put Ivan Toney without Kane. Switzerland also added veteran Xherdan Shaqiri instead of Embolo. England put in Trent Alexander-Arnold instead of Foden, while Switzerland put in Vincent Sierro and Zecki Amdouni, with the exception of Abyshire and Freiler. However, in the end, the two teams failed to score, and the game was decided in a penalty shootout.

The game was decided at the first kicker. England were successful by Palmer, while Switzerland's Akanji failed. Afterwards, England scored without mistakes by Bellingham, Saka and Tony. Switzerland also continued its success relay with Cher, Shakiri and Amdouni. The last kicker was Arnold. Arnold overcame the pressure of the last kicker to win.

England had a 51-49 possession, 13-12 shooting, 3-3 effective shooting, and a tight game in all aspects, but they did not lose their concentration until the end and succeeded in advancing to the semifinals. Saka, who scored the equalizer, was named the man of the match by the UEFA technical committee after the match. Saka said in a post-match interview that `the pressure of the penalty shootout is something I have to carry. I failed once, but I wanted to put myself in that position once again. I know there are a lot of nervous people like my family, but I kicked the penalty shootout while staying calm."

Manager Gareth Southgate, who led the victory, told the BBC after the game: `I thought the players were excellent. It was the best play we've ever played together. We caused them a lot of problems in the on-the-ball situation. Switzerland are a really good team, and it's hard to put pressure on. It's hard to stop, and it moves well. To win a tournament, you have to not only play well, but also show other abilities"We played well. We had good off-the-ball movement, and we defended well. We made changes to raise the line. With Saka, the advance has become advantageous. We had to find a way for Spain to win last night, and our players did it. I'm proud." Southgate won his 100th match for England.

Swiss coach Murat Yakin said in a post-match press conference: "It hurts. We put in a lot of effort, we created a lot of opportunities. England have not created many chances, while we have created our own. We didn't show up to go home. But we showed a really proud performance.

Reporter Park Chan-joon vanbasten@sportschosun.com

vanbasten@sportschosun.com

'Winning is the best!' England's sweet potato went to the semifinals and won against Switzerland after a penalty shootout...the semifinals against the Netherlands

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