For weeks on end, we had been demanding improvements from Gareth Southgate.

And right here, at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund, on the borders of Utopia, the England manager executed the greatest double substitution in the history of his nation’s team.

Following an outstanding first half, the Dutch exerted pressure on England, and with 81 minutes left, Southgate replaced England’s all-time top scorer Harry Kane and Footballer of the Year Phil Foden with Ollie Watkins and Cole Palmer.

The striker Watkins of Aston Villa was then found by Palmer in the ninetieth minute, and he turned and struck into the lower right corner.

After the Netherlands was defeated, England found itself in Never-Never Land as they prepared to play Spain in the final on Sunday in Berlin.

Southgate was executing a masterful tactical play that guaranteed England’s spot in the competition for the second consecutive year, despite criticism and derision in recent weeks.

England has now overcome deficits to win three consecutive knockout matches.

This team has it in them, as evidenced by their outstanding first half, which was full of purpose and enthusiasm as Kane’s penalty tied Xavi Simons’ early goal.

Being in a major international semi-final against England was one of those incredibly rare experiences.

Like in Turin in 1990 when Gazza cried, and like in Moscow in 2018, when England gave up a lead against Croatia during the Southgate era of sentimental waistcoats.

An hour before kickoff, history seemed to be hаnging thick in the air. Or maybe there was just too much humidity and it created a beautiful cloudburst.

England’s audience was so much larger than Dortmund’s, the renowned Yellow Wall was painted orange, and the match felt like an away game.

Constantly cautious, Southgate selected his standard team, with Ezri Konsa missing and Marc Guehi the sole player back from suspension.

He had been convincing himself that their play had been fantastic, if not the rest of us.

Now that England was here, it didn’t really matter how they got there. All that mattered was this.

Before the game began, Three Lions was played. Thirty years of pаin might extend to sixty years if this team didn’t thoroughly go over the formbook and the history books.

Still, the Dutch took the lead and scored after just seven minutes of аttаck.

Xavi Simons moved forward and fired a shot that went past Jordan Pickford and into the far corner, robbing Declan Rice.

Perhaps a picture of three individuals, with one or more of them playing American football, football, and text

Surprisingly enough, though, England had started the match far more fluidly than they had since their first encounter with Serbia.

Saka, who scored goals and was named player of the match during their quarterfinal victory against Switzerland, exuded a delectable demeanour.

Netherlands took the lead thanks to a spectacular strike from Xavi Simons.

And it was Saka who charted the path to England’s equaliser after Bart Verbruggen denied Kane’s strong shot from the bottom corner.

The Arsenal forward cut inside from the right, entered an orange-colored melee, and then saw his pass deflected to Kane, who missed the mark before being stopped by Denzel Dumfries’ boot.

After a review, the referee decided that Denzel Dumfries had fouled Harry Kane, awarding England a penalty.

Referee Felix Zwayer wasn’t interested at first, but after being sent to his monitor, he was given what looked like a very modern slow-motion VAR penalty.

Kane advanced and struck it low to Verbruggen’s right. Unbelievably for most of us, the England captain’s three goals were tied for first place in the Golden Boot standings.

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Source: USA Today