England pragmatically shows Germany door

England pragmatically shows Germany door

As part of Euro 2020 round of 16, the national team of England defeated team Germany 2:0 and got themselves a ticket to quarter-finals.

Before the match, there was no clear favorite in this old European standoff. England have shot on target six times in the entire group stage, of which they have scored twice and never conceded. That said that for the Three Lions team, the lock on their goal would be more important than the attack.

At the same time, Germany almost got eliminated in the group stage, losing to Hungary in the final round. But they were able to snatch victory. And given the fact that they also played with France and Portugal, it was futile to hope for freshness in the legs of the Bundesteam.

The teams entered the pitch with almost mirrored 3-4-3 formations. The only difference is that Germany's attacking trio Müller, Werner and Havertz were closer to each other, which allowed them to overlap all options for England in a build-up. At the same time, Gareth Southgate's men came out through pressing thanks to longballs on Harry Kane or wings, which happened less often.

The Germans had much more advantage and put pressing on the opponents. But they did not succeed in bringing the matter to a goal. At first, Pickford deflected Havertz's shot from under the woodwork, then the defenders blocked it. There was also a question for Germany, which dealt almost half of their shots from outside the penalty area. Here the quantitative defense of the hosts played a role.

In the second half, when the Bundesteam got really tired and Joachim Low had to take Timo Werner out, Southgate fired experienced Jack Grealish instead of the young but sluggish Bukayo Saka most of the time. And the Aston Villa midfielder, along with Luke Shaw, took advantage of Kimmich's fatigue on the left wing. First, the lateral crossed at Sterling, who scored his third goal in the tournament, and then Jack himself assisted Harry Kane.

England cannot be blamed for pragmatic and simple counter-attacking football. They took advantage of the total fatigue of the opponents and tore the left wing of their attack. Grealish's substitute is a tipping point in the fight that Southgate felt perfectly. Therefore, it remains only to wish good luck to Joachim Low, his time in the national team ended as badly as possible. Although it could have turned out differently.