HomeUEFA EuroENGLISHMEN TO QUARTERS!

ENGLISHMEN TO QUARTERS!

By Ritvik Malhotra

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It was a clash of two historic foes when England and Germany locked horns in the Euro 2020 Round of 16 encounter. It was quite a balanced encounter until England fired on all cylinders through Sterling and Harry Kane, winning 2-0 and booking themselves a ticket to the quarter-finals.

 

 

Exploiting the weakest link. That’s what England did to Germany today in a spectacular clash to redeem themselves. Gareth Southgate’s side didn’t let the Germans control the match through possession and surprisingly, were quite aggressive today considering the fact they have been playing on the back foot.

In what transpired to be the last match for Joachim Low as the German boss, he had quite a disappointing farewell. His squad did not disappoint today, but they chose to take their foot off the gas pedal during the final moments, which proved decisive. Nevertheless, he will go down as one of the best German managers and is a huge and integral part of Die Mannschaft’s history.

 

 

FootTheBall presents you two players that performed admirably and had a great influence on the game. We also bring you, two players, on the pitch who did not live up to expectations and simply had a terrible day overall.

STOCK-UP

RAHEEM STERLING

Looks like whenever Gareth Southgate has been in a need of a match-winning hero, Sterling has been the answer to all his problems. The 26-year-old put on another solid performance today, bidding a disappointing farewell to Joachim Low.

An accurate low cross from the wing by Luke Shaw was easily finished by Sterling, who perfectly adjusted his run to avoid being flagged for off-side. Fair to say, the decisive goal handed all the momentum in the English hands.

 

 

There were many criticisms regarding Sterling’s weak finishing, but those critics have been hushed since the commencement of the Euros, as he has already bagged three goals in the tournament. Match-winning performances one after the other have Sterling at the pinnacle of his form and confidence, which he would hope to maintain going into the quarter-finals.

 

LEON GORETZKA

The German Bull was on the lose as Goretzka was one of the few bright spots in Joachim Low’s squad today. He is the driving force behind this German squad, the force that opponents find difficult to cope with. The Bayern Munich midfielder, who belongs to the list of the elite box-to-box midfielders, was everywhere on the pitch, teleporting from one position to another.

 

 

Adaptable, technical, and both quick and strong: Goretzka is a powerhouse who has it all. Along with his lyrical on-ball capabilities, he has a unique passion, grit, and all-out nature, all of which were on full display today.

He is a tireless runner who, as soon as he tackled and recovered the ball, would sprint forward to feed it to an open man in order to generate opportunities, giving it his all till the last whistle. He may have lost today, but his performance today deserves a lot of plaudits.

 

STOCK DOWN

BUKAYO SAKA

In what was a redemption night for England and Gareth Southgate, Bukayo Saka didn’t really impress in his limited minutes. In the opening minutes, it seemed like the 19-year-old would be the man of the day, but the graph of his performance today only went downhill.

 

 

Losing possession of the ball a total of 12 times combined with inaccurate passes was the story for the young man today. Saka is an outrageous talent who on his day can look like a veteran in the body of a boy and wreak havoc in the oppositions penalty box, but today wasn’t that day. He’ll be looking to bounce back from his performance in the quarter-finals as it’s a certainty that Southgate will give the young lad another chance.

 

TIMO WERNER

Timo Werner had one of the most dreadful outings in this English-German affair. Individually, the Chelsea striker has had a disappointing season, and his performance tonight just added to his woes.

Consistently losing the ball in England’s half plus looking quite confused about his movements and decisions upfront, Werner didn’t really provide any offensive flair for Joachim Low throughout the tournament and was one of the many reasons for Germany’s elimination today.

 

 

But it would be unfair to put the whole blame on Werner, as the attackers like Gnabry and Muller, who were expected to be the difference makers for this German squad didn’t really step up.

 

Ritvik Malhotra

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