LONDON (EFE) – England, who played the honor and pride of finishing first in the group on Tuesday, achieved the goal by beating the Czech Republic in a loose match of the ‘Three Lions’ saved by a goal from Raheem Sterling ( 0-1).
The English, warned by the boos in the previous meetings and by a game that has not yet taken off, took pressure off with a lackluster and lackluster triumph, but that helps them to pass first in the group, escape speculation and ensure their presence at Wembley in the round of 16.
Gareth Southgate did not doubt whether first or second place was better. They went out to win. As against Scotland, they ran into the stick at the first exchange, this time not by a header from John Stones, but by a run behind Sterling’s defense that culminated in City with a Vaseline that crashed in the wood.
Southgate, forced by circumstances, made changes and the team saw it for the better. Grealish took the position of ’10’ that Mason Mount left free, isolated by the positive of Billy Gilmour; Sterling went to the left wing, while the surprise went to Bukayo Saka, the Arsenal man, stuck to the right.
Electric and constantly on the move, Saka allowed Harry Kane to come into play more. Being a purer extreme, it opened the field, allowed Kane to fall in and combine. And the icing on the cake that striker ‘Spurs’ missed was the goal. He brushed against him when, after a vertical pass from Harry Maguire, he sat down with a cut to the defender and the definition crushed her against the goalkeeper.
But not all was good news for England, which left a dose of weakness behind. The Czechs were lavish in attack and each time they did it was to hit small scares. Holes forced Pickford to pop a popcorn and Soucek, the West Ham midfielder, was able to equalize with a round-trip shot inside the area.
The return of Maguire, after more than a month injured, gave hierarchy to the rear, but did not cover all the shortcomings of a group that aspires to be solid, without certainties. As the minutes passed, the 0-1 was getting better and better for the English, who did not hide when it came to wasting time, aware that they did not need more, despite the fact that there was more than half an hour left on the electronic.
England could not speculate on that, not after the doubts generated. They won, without showing off, but they won – and they canceled their 0-2 offside by Jordan Henderson – and now it will be their turn to take the final step. They will be hit with a ‘bogeyman’ in the second round and racanería will no longer be a sufficient argument to beat one of the best teams in the Eurocup. England waits for France, Germany or Portugal and sighs for the impossible of Hungary. At least they’ll have Wembley going for it.
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