In the early morning of July 7, the quarterfinals of Euro 2024 continued. In the match between England and Switzerland, the two teams drew 1-1 after 90 minutes. England were drowsy throughout the pitch but were unlucky, and in the final shoot-out, Jordan Pickford saved Akanji's penalty to help them reach the last four, where they will face the winner of the Netherlands and Turkey in the semi-finals.
England celebrates promotion according to Visual China
England's performances at this tournament have been criticised for their performances, with a thrilling knockout of Slovakia in the last round to qualify, especially with Bellingham's 95th-minute equaliser. Southgate is under intense pressure as a result, and this morning's game against Switzerland will be memorable for him – Southgate's 100th game in charge of England, after only two former England managers, Weinburton (139) and Ramsey (113), have reached the 100-game milestone.
Due to the suspension of the main central defender Guehi in this round, Southgate also boldly changed the formation, with Koonsa, Stones, and Walker as the three central defenders; The double midfielder is a combination of Maynoo and Rice; Kieran Trippier and Bukayo Saka were the wing-backs on the left and right; Foden and Bellingham form a double midfield; Kane plays as a striker. The benefit of this change is that Foden and Bellingham could coexist, with Foden finally able to operate in the forward midfield position that he is better equipped with, rather than being confined to the left winger position.
The Swiss team's performance in this European Championship is quite good, especially the 2-0 victory over Italy in the 1/8 final, which is highly appreciated. However, Switzerland's best result in international competitions is the quarter-finals, and they have reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup and European Championship four times, but they have not been able to make a breakthrough - 2-3 to Czechoslovakia in the 1934 World Cup, 0-2 to Hungary in the 1938 World Cup, 5-7 to Austria in the 1954 World Cup, and a 1-1 draw in regulation time against Spain in the last European Championship, but they were eliminated on penalties. Therefore, this game is also a chance for the Swiss team to reach the semi-finals of the tournament again, and they also hope to end this "curse".
England drew 1-1 with Switzerland in 90 minutes Photo according to Visual China
England played patiently from the start of the game, frequently using inverted triangle passes to provide opportunities for players in front of the box to shoot from distance, but they were blocked by Swiss defenders in the box. In the first half, England's main attack was concentrated on the right wing, although Saka was arranged as a right wing-back, he was more like a right winger, creating breakthroughs on the right side many times. But unfortunately, Saka's cross from the right was always unanswered, which also led to England not creating too dangerous attacks in the first half, and the best scoring opportunity was in the 45th minute Saka "drilled" into the box from the right side and forced a knockback, Mainou pushed the shot, but was blocked by Xhaka's outstretched foot.
When the Swiss team saw that England did not have a way to score, they also began to try to counter-attack and move the line forward appropriately in the second half, instead of sticking to the back. In the 75th minute, the Swiss team scored first, Ndoye crossed on the right side, and Embolo fell to the ground at the back point to score!
Embolo went down at the back post and fired home
After conceding the goal, Southgate was in a hurry, replacing Menou, Trippier and Konsa in one go, and replacing Palmer, Luke Shaw and Eze to strengthen the attack. In the 80th minute, the most eye-catching England player of the game, Bukayo Saka, equalized with his individual ability, he took the ball on the right side and no longer crossed the bottom, but took two steps sideways and suddenly shot from a distance, and the ball went straight to the far corner. However, the equaliser had little to do with Southgate's substitutions.
Bukayo Saka shoots home from distance
The two teams went into extra-time 1-1, and in the 95th minute, Rice hit a high-quality long-range shot, which was saved by Swiss goalkeeper Sommer to save a dangerous shot. In the end, the two sides took this dull battle into a penalty shootout. However, neither team is good at penalty shoot-outs, with England winning 3-7 in their last 10 penalty shoot-outs and Switzerland losing 1-4 in their last 5 penalty shoot-outs. The most memorable is the last European Championship final, England lost to Italy on penalties and lost the championship.
Akanji misses a penalty
In the first round of the penalty shoot-out, Palmer got off to a flying start for England, while Switzerland's limp shot from Akanji was blocked by Jordan Pickford. After that, England's Bellingham, Saka and Toney, and Switzerland's Scher, Shaqiri and Amdouni all hit the spot. England's Trent Alexander-Arnold made his fifth appearance and a single penalty was needed to take his side to the last four, only for the Liverpool full-back to live up to his mission and finish the game with a powerful shot that Switzerland were unable to complete.
Red Star News reporter Jiang Shan
Edited by Ou Peng
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