Football News: England Scrape Through to Euro 2024 Quarter-Finals Despite Underwhelming Performance

England have secured their spot in the quarter-finals of the Euro 2024 tournament, but their 2-1 victory over Slovakia was far from convincing. The Three Lions struggled for large periods of the game, raising concerns among football enthusiasts about their ability to mount a serious challenge for the European title.

“England are into the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 and ultimately that is all that matters, but for 95 minutes, that was a desperate performance against Slovakia,” said BBC pundit Alan Shearer. “I was watching it thinking it was Iceland and Euro 2016 all over again, because we were just as bad as we were in that embarrassing defeat, but then Jude Bellingham has saved us with a world-class finish.”

The match was a microcosm of England’s campaign so far, with the team failing to impress consistently despite the quality of their players. “Up until then, we had been awful. You never give up hope in any game when you are only 1-0 down, but there were next to no signs that we were going to find an equaliser from anywhere until that piece of brilliance,” Shearer added.

England’s struggles were encapsulated in the statistics, with just one shot on target in the entire 120 minutes of play. “That was the first shot we had on target, which is a dismal statistic when you consider the quality of our players and the level of opposition that we were up against, but it was the one that mattered,” Shearer said.

The Quarter-Finals Await

The win, however, means that England have progressed to the quarter-finals, where they will face Switzerland – a team that has impressed throughout the tournament. “The Swiss will be well-organised again, just with more quality and carrying more of a threat. They have been one of the best teams at these Euros so far, and after coming close to beating Germany they absolutely outclassed Italy,” Shearer noted.

Tactical Approach Under Scrutiny

Gareth Southgate’s tactical approach has come under scrutiny, with many fans calling for a more attacking style of play. “Everyone is crying out for him to give us some attacking football, but his England side have played like this in previous tournaments too – and it got us to the semi-final of the 2018 World Cup and the final of Euro 2020. He is not going to change now,” Shearer said.

As England prepare for their quarter-final clash, the team will need to find a way to improve significantly if they are to make a deep run in the tournament. “If we play as badly as we did in the first 95 minutes against Slovakia, then the same could happen to us,” Shearer warned. “To avoid that, England need to learn their lesson about what has gone wrong so far and ensure it does not happen again.”

With the business end of the competition approaching, England will be hoping that Bellingham’s late heroics can spark a change in fortunes and propel them towards their first major international trophy since 1966.

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