Ollie Watkins scored a stunning injury-time goal as England beat the Netherlands 2-1 on Wednesday to set up their Euro 2024 final clash with Spain in Berlin. It was an incredible end to a night that started badly for England, with Xavi Simons giving the Netherlands an early lead in the semi-final in Dortmund. However, England soon equalized with a Harry Kane penalty following a VAR call from German referee Felix Zwayer, and the match looked set to go into extra time until Watkins scored. Replacing Harry Kane, Watkins collected a pass from fellow substitute Cole Palmer with his back to goal in the first minute of stoppage time, turned and fired a low shot into the far corner, leaving the Netherlands completely stunned.
It has rarely been a convincing campaign from Gareth Southgate’s England team, but they have qualified for a second successive European Championship final and are dreaming of finally lifting their first major trophy since 1966.
To do so, they will certainly have to perform better than ever in Germany, as they face an excellent Spanish team.
Spain will also have had a further 24 hours to prepare for the final, having beaten France 2-1 on Tuesday.
The Netherlands were hoping to repeat their triumph at the last Euros held in Germany in 1988, but their current team has no one with the star quality of Marco van Basten or Ruud Gullit.
A win for them would have seen this Euro end in the same final as the 2010 World Cup. Instead, they now go home.
England reached this stage despite failing to win any of their last four matches inside 90 minutes and being taken to extra time by Slovakia and Switzerland.
That may have given the Dutch a physical advantage, after the Netherlands managed to finish third in their group, beating Romania and then eliminating Turkey.
England welcomed back Marc Guehi in defense after suspension, while Dutch coach Ronald Koeman opted to put Donyell Malen in attack at the field where he plays for Borussia Dortmund.
The Westfalenstadion is a special place for the Dutch, as it was the scene of the 2-0 victory over Brazil, which took them to the 1974 World Cup final.
They went ahead here after just seven minutes thanks to a stunning goal from Simons, who robbed Declan Rice 35 yards from goal and advanced before sending a rasping shot past Jordan Pickford.
The Dutch players ran away to celebrate with their fans behind that goal as England fell behind for the third game in a row.
However, as with the Swiss in the quarter-finals, they reacted quickly.
Kane forced a save from Bart Verbruggen and moments later sent a volley over the bar, only to be caught by Denzel Dumfries.
It looked completely innocuous, but Zwayer was called in to review the footage and awarded a penalty.
Kane, whose missed penalty against France cost England dearly at the 2022 World Cup, made no mistake, sending a low shot into the bottom left corner.
The game turned into an open and entertaining affair, with Dumfries redeeming themselves by clearing Phil Foden’s line.
Dumfries headed against the post from a Simons corner but Foden responded with an excellent shot from distance off the top of the post.
The English midfielders were having a lot of time on the ball and Koeman took advantage of Memphis Depay’s injury to reinforce the center, replacing the striker with Joey Veerman.
Another change occurred at half-time, with Wout Weghorst – a super-substitute in the previous rounds – replacing Malen.
Even so, the game became more cautious as the minutes passed and the fear of making a mistake grew.
Pickford denied Virgil van Dijk in the 65th minute and the Netherlands began to take control as England’s key players began to tire.
England had the ball in the net in the 79th minute when Bukayo Saka deflected a Kyle Walker cutback, but the latter was offside and the flag interrupted the celebrations.
Southgate then decided to remove Kane and Foden, with Watkins and Palmer entering the fray to devastating effect.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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