From his delirium in Dortmund, Blankenhain returned to England.
Away from the frenzy of fans in the north-west center of the European Championships in Germany, to the tranquility of Weimarer Land, which has been home for almost five weeks.
Players rarely venture outside of their resort hotel, so it’s unlikely they’ve seen the Three Lions donut bakery.
But they will have seen England flags flying in the small town, making them feel at home as they try to bring football home.
Inside base camp today there were live broadcasts for fans of England’s online channels – hearing from the man of the moment.
Ollie Watkins, the super substitute with the sweet scoring touch, who completed the comeback for defeats the Netherlands 2-1 was watching all the beer celebrations at home.
“Obviously, keep supporting us. One more game to go,” said the Aston Villa striker. “The support doesn’t go unnoticed, all the boys watch the videos.”
The video that many fans were sharing was of that last-gasp goal that avoided the need for an agonizing and draining extra time.
Watkins had only entered the field less than 10 minutes earlier – to make just his second tournament appearance
There was a message from manager Gareth Southgate: “Go ahead and win for us.”
And that’s what he did – after combining with fellow substitute Cole Palmer.
The pair fought hard to become the team’s saviors – becoming only the third England men’s team to win a semi-final.
They are unable to reach Sunday’s final because they play the day after Spain beat France in the other semi-final.
Southgate has little time to prepare his team for the formidable task of facing a team that has won all six of its tournament games without the need for extra time.
England, however, dropped points in two group stage games and played another hour in the knockout stage.
See more information:
How the stars celebrated England’s semi-final victory
England’s dramatic victory in pictures
The rise of Ollie Watkins
Southgate celebrates after the semi-final victory against the Netherlands. Photo: Reuters
“The extra day is a concern,” Southgate said.
“In recent tournaments this has been a problem for the finalists, so we have to do the best we can to recover the players in the best possible way.
“But we won’t be on the training ground. It’s simple. We’ll be going over things or handing things over in meetings, which was the same for this game.
“But we are there and with what we have shown so far we have as many chances as them.”
England fans celebrate in Dortmund after semi-final victory
Players could spend the evening remembering what a European Championship-winning England team is like – as the Lionesses face Ireland on Friday in their penultimate qualifying match for next year’s tournament.
England women’s team Sarina Wiegman also set the standard that England are achieving by reaching two finals – winning the trophy in 2022.
They also reached last year’s Women’s World Cup before losing to Spain in the final.
They are already further behind since the men’s teams met – with one win each in their Nations League matches in 2018. The last meeting of the tournament saw England win on penalties in the Euro 96 quarter-final at Wembley.
This final will certainly be England’s biggest game ever abroad.
Spanish players at the training camp before the final
Expect an influx of air and road fans to arrive in the German capital – whether at Berlin’s 71,000-capacity Olympic Stadium or just in the city.
The only time the English reached the final was at Wembley – in the 1966 World Cup and in the 2021 Euro final, restricted by the pandemic.
And the last two World Cups were held in less favorable locations.
Fans watch the semi-final on a big screen at Wembley
So you have to go back to Euro 2016 to find a huge following in England, but that was a tournament to forget – perhaps the lowest point in domestic football history.
But hitting rock bottom with the humiliating exit to Iceland was ultimately the launchpad for the Southgate era, with three semi-finals and now two finals.
And the coach who instigated the 2016 humiliation as Iceland coach?
Heimir Hallgrímsson, the newly appointed Ireland coach, predicted today: “England will win the tournament.”
He saw – like everyone else – how England has been achieving results. But somehow in Germany they keep delivering death.
Southgate’s hope is that they have managed to recover enough to pull off another memorable win.
Sunday’s final will be Southgate’s 102nd game in charge of England
If England had exited the Euros earlier – especially to lower-ranked nations Slovakia or Switzerland – the relationship with fans could have been severed to prevent Southgate from being able to remain.
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But the FA has no desire to cut ties and Southgate leading England to back-to-back Euro finals would reinforce their desire to extend a contract that expires at the end of the year.
It always seemed to be Southgate’s decision.
The 53-year-old may decide it is time to leave after eight years, especially given the criticism and ridicule that has frustrated him at this tournament.
For now, the focus is on plotting to overtake Spain.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
