England striker Ollie Watkins revealed he planned his match-winning goal with Cole Palmer before coming on as substitute in the semifinal of Euro 2024 against the Netherlands on Wednesday. Watkins and Palmer replaced Harry Kane and Phil Foden in the 80th minute and the duo combined to score a match-winning goal in the 90th minute.
Watkins was able to beat Dutch keeper Bart Verbruggen after receiving an assist from Palmer. The Aston Villa forward strike was able to put England in back to back Euro finals.
“Unbelievable. I’ve been waiting for that moment for weeks, for weeks,” Watkins said after the game. “It’s taken a lot of hard work to get to where I am today, and grateful that I got the opportunity and I’ve grabbed it with both hands and I’m delighted.
“I swear on my life. I said to Cole Palmer, ‘We’re coming on today and you’re going to set me up,’ and that’s why I was so happy with Coley.
“I knew as soon as he got the ball he was going to play me and you’ve got to be greedy, touch and finish and when I’ve seen it go in the bottom corner, it’s the best feeling ever.”
Meanwhile, England and their manager Gareth Southgate has received a lot of criticism for their mundane performance throughout the tournament but the Three Lions have always found a way to keep themselves afloat, like they did on Wednesday.
“It shows the more modern England way but also the resilience and character of the group,” Southgate said after the match. “Ollie Watkins has trained like that every day. He has trained for his moment no matter how frustrated.
“[The players] had each others’ back, they bonded so well and tonight it was an example of that.”
This is the first time when England has qualified for the final of the major tournament while playing away.
“We are more calm going into the knockout games. In Russia we had not won a knockout game in 10 years,” Southgate said. “To be able to take the team to the first final overseas I am immensely proud of that.”
The final between England and Spain will be played in Berlin on Wednesday.
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