(Football news) After Murat Yakin’s team defeated incumbent champions Italy with significantly more merit, and Gareth Southgate’s charges survived a huge scare against Slovakia, the teams meet at the Merkur Spiel-Arena.
When England’s team finished in a tepid draw with Slovenia in their final Group C match, some supporters chose to throw their empty cups at Southgate, while others may have been hoping that knockout football would put a fire under the Three Lions again.
As it happened, the Euro 2020 runners-up were still all about mediocrity in their match against Slovakia in the last-16. The Slovakians had repelled England’s pointless attempts for more than ninety minutes in Gelsenkirchen, and they had rightfully taken the lead thanks to Ivan Schranz’s third goal of the league.
However, a moment of sheer magic from Jude Bellingham saw the 21-year-old leave Martin Dubravka stranded to the spot with a dazzling bicycle kick, before Harry Kane needed just 52 seconds of extra time to complete a heroic England turnaround, but one that still sparked familiar criticism once the euphoria had settled.
Not one England performance at Euro 2024 has seen the Three Lions run out convincing victors, and they have not won a game in 90 minutes since edging out Serbia on the opening matchweek, but the fact of the matter is that Southgate has now led his nation to four successive major tournament quarter-finals.
With seven victories in knockout matches at the World Cup and European Championships, Southgate’s septet of successes is the more than all other England men’s managers combined since 1966, but such statistics will offer little comfort if football does not come home again.
On a side note, Southgate will achieve a personal honour regardless of the outcome in Dusseldorf, as Saturday’s quarter-final will see the former defender take charge of his 100th game for England, a feat that only Sir Walter Winterbottom (139) and Sir Alf Ramsay (113) have managed previously for the men’s team.
The Three Lions had already avenged their Euro 2020 heartbreak to Italy during qualifying, but they will not have the opportunity for an even sweeter slice of vengeance against the Azzurri in Dusseldorf, courtesy of Switzerland’s merited beating of the current holders.
After playing provider for Remo Freuler’s deadlock-breaker, Ruben Vargas turned goalscorer in the first minute of the second half to ensure that a new European champion would be crowned in Berlin on July 14, while also making the Rossocrociati the first team to book their quarter-final spot.
With a statement win over Hungary and applaudable draw with Germany – who only equalised in second-half injury time – under their belts, Yakin’s men have taken on the role of dark horses and now have a second straight quarter-final to look forward to, but they have never been past this stage of any major tournament.
However, as well as England’s limp performances offering the Rossocrociati plenty of optimism, Yakin’s troops have now strung together an eight-game unbeaten streak in all tournaments and have lost just once in 18 since the 2022 World Cup; a 1-0 qualifying reverse to Romania.
Not since a 1981 World Cup qualifier have Switzerland come up trumps over England, though, as the Three Lions have won their last five against the Rossocrociati and are unbeaten in 13 – unlucky for some – and current boss Yakin was part of the Swiss side that went down 3-0 to England in the Euro 2004 group stage.
If the Rossocrociati boss can avenge that defeat two decades on, he will snap a record-breaking run for the Swiss, as no other European nation has played in as many as four major tournament quarter-finals without ever reaching the semis.
Also read: England star Jude Bellingham is free to play the match against Switzerland
