England in the Euro 2024 final thanks to Ollie Watkins’ last-minute goal | UK News

These are the nights Ollie Watkins never imagined were possible.

Scoring in a tournament for England? That seemed so out of reach when he was playing for sixth-tier clubs – and still outside the Premier League just four years ago.

Now, finally, at the age of 28, here he was – wearing the Three Lions jersey, with tens of millions of people watching across the world.

And handed over his opportunity with nine minutes left in the semi-final – replacing the team’s all-time top scorer, Harry Kane – and winning it in spectacular fashion.

With the fear of extra time looming, the striker scored to defeat the Netherlands.

Exactly the kind of finish Aston Villa fans have enjoyed all season. Now doing it for his country on the grandest of stages.

“When you score, emotions go through your body,” he said after the 2-1 victory. “But this is just a different feeling.

“It was in slow motion when I was running up to the boys and celebrating, and… I didn’t want to leave the field at the end because I just wanted to take it all in because that doesn’t happen often, obviously. “

Never before had the English reached a final abroad.

Although this is the second consecutive Euro final for Gareth Southgate’s side, the Three Lions have not reached a final since 1966.

Now, for Watkins, it’s one of the biggest games in world football – Sunday’s European Championship final against Spain in Berlin.

The former Weston-super-Mare, Exeter City and Brentford striker said: “I never thought I would play in the Euros for England. , one step at a time.”

That’s why right now, inside Dortmund’s stadium, he was reflecting on the fight to return to the professional ranks a decade ago, when Exeter sent the teenager out on loan outside the league.

“I worked really hard to get to this point,” he said. “It’s not just this season. It’s cumulative and I’ve worked hard to get to this point and I’m going to enjoy every moment.”

And Southgate had no qualms about bringing on Watkins to try and conjure up a winner – confusing those who questioned his substitutions and timings.

The manager said: “Ollie Watkins has trained like this every day and is ready for his moment, no matter how frustrated he may be about not playing.

“He is ready and so is the whole group. And the way they formed, it’s a group with many new players and half of them had never participated in a tournament.

“But they bonded so well and everyone has each other’s backs.”

Watkins was patient – having played just 20 minutes in one of the previous five games here in Germany.

“To be honest, I recently got a little frustrated,” he said.

“I don’t like being on the bench. I’ve had the best season of my career and I’ve had a few messages from my friends just saying, ‘be patient, you’ll get an opportunity’ and they feel like I have an important role to play in the tournament.

“The amount of people who have messaged me today saying I’m going to score tonight when I come in, that’s ridiculous. And obviously they released it to the universe.

“So I hope they can do the same in the final or even give me the lottery numbers.”

Watkins will already feel like he’s won the lottery – getting England into the final.

He will always have Dortmund. But he hopes Berlin will bring more – titles to end the Three Lions’ years of suffering since 1966.